Class 




Book_'R. 
Goipglit)^^ 



G^^ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSrr. 



HISTORY OF EUROPE 



ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL 



EARLIEST MAN, THE ORIENT, GREECE 

AND ROME 

BY 

JAMES HENRY BREASTED 



EUROPE FROM THE BREAK-UP OF 

THE ROMAN EMPIRE TO THE 

FRENCH REVOLUTION 

BY 

JAMES HARVEY ROBINSON 




GINN AND COMPANY 

BOSTON . NEW YORK • CHICAGO • LONDON 
ATLANTA • DALLAS • COLUMBUS • SAN FRANCISCO 



COPYRIGHT, 1914, 1920, BY JAMES HARVEY ROBINSON 

AND JAMES HENRV BREASTED 

ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL 

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 

520.3 




MAk 'S'j i920 



Vfft gtlitnKnin gce<< 

GINN AND COMPANY • PRO- 
PRIETORS • BOSTON • U.S.A. 



©CU$65379 



PREFACE 

General European history is one of the most perplexing sub- 
jects to deal with in the high school. It seems absolutely essen- 
tial that boys and girls should have some knowledge of the whole 
past of mankind ; without that they can have no real understand- 
ing of the world in which they live, for the simple reason that 
the present can only be explained by the past. The older historical 
manuals were, in the main, short accounts of past events ; but it 
is really past conditions and past institutions and past ideas that 
are best worth knowing about. The older books tended, more- 
over, to give too much attention to the remote past and too little 
information in regard to recent histor\', so that there was little 
chance of the pupil's realizing the vital bearing of the past on 
the present. 

The aim of these two volumes is to avoid the defects of the 
older books, first, by frankly subordinating the mere happenings of 
the past to a clear statement of the conditions under which men 
lived for long periods, of the ideas which they held, and of the man- 
ner in which conditions and ideas have undergone great changes 
in man's slow rise from his original savage estate ; secondly, by 
devoting about half of the work, namely, V'olume II, to the past 
hundred and fifty years, which concern us most immediately. 

The arrangement of the volumes is novel in a number of re- 
spects. Each chapter is divided into several topical sections, as 
will be seen by consulting the Contents. The topics are, of 
course, arranged with strict attention to chronology, but the 
writers have always before them a particular subject which they 
aim to make plain under each section heading. In short, each 
section is a discussible topic and not a fragment of chronology. 
The authors hope that this plan of presentation will serve to make 
the books more useful and teachable than the older method of 
arrangement. 

iii 



iv History of Europe 

These volumes are based on the authors' "Outlines of European 
History," but Chapters I-XX have been completely rewritten, 
simplified, and condensed ; and more space has been given to 
Roman history and less to that of the ancient Orient. Hearty 
thanks are due to Dr. T. G. Allen and Professor Carl F. Huth 
for reading the proofs of this portion and for revising the bibli- 
ographies. As for the rest of the work, much condensation has 
been effected and the details of presentation have been reconsidered 
from beginning to end. 

Not only have the illustrations been carefully chosen with 
a view of corroborating and vivifying the text but under each 
picture a sufficiently detailed legend is given to explain its 
significance, and this often adds materially to the information 
given in the letterpress. The pictures consequently give a sort of. 
parallel narrative and furnish a helpful supplement and cor- 
rective to the text itself. Everj^thing which does not obviously 
bear upon the chief matters under consideration is sedulously 
excluded. (See "Outlines of European History," Part I, p. v, for 
acknowledgments of the authors in this important matter.) 

These volumes meet the growing demand for a two-yea.r course 
in European history in the earlier years of the high school and in 
the preparatory schools. The great achievements of the oriental 
peoples and of the Greek and Roman periods are brought into 
immediate relation with later European development, without 
devoting a whole year's study to them. English history, if some- 
what briefly treated, is given its proper association with that of 
the neighboring nations on the Continent. By devoting the whole 
second year to the history of the tremendous changes which have 
overtaken the world since the middle of the eighteenth century, 
the student will be in a position to grasp the more immediate 
causes of the World War and the perplexing conditions in the 
midst of which we live. 

J. II. B. 
J. H. R. 



CONTENTS 

BOOK I. EARLIEST MAN 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Earliest Max ix Europe 

I. The Progress of Earliest Man i 

II. The Early Stone Age 2 

III. The Middle Stone Age 4 

IV. The Late Stone Age 6 

BOOK II. THE ORIENT 

II. The Story of Egypt 

I. Egypt and the Rise of the Earliest Civilization 14 

II. The Pyramid Age 20 

III. The Feudal Age 29 

IV. The Empire 31 

V. The Higher Life of the Empire and its Fall 33 

III. Western Asia: Babylonia, Assyria, .\xd Chaldea 

I. The Lands and Races of Western Asia 39 

II. The Earliest Babylonians and the Rise of Civilization in Asia 43 

III. The Age of Hammurapi and After . 46 

IV. The Assyrian Empire (about 750 to 606 B.C.) 50 

V. The Chaldean Empire : the Last Semitic Empire 56 

IV. Western Asia: the Medo-Persian Empire and the Hehrews 

I. The Indo-European Peoples and their Dispersion 59 

II. The Aryan Peoples and the Iranian Prophet Zoroaster ... 62 

III. Rise of the Persian Empire: Cyrus 64 

IV. The Civilization of the Persian Empire (about 530 to 330 k.c.) 66 
V. The Hebrews 69 

VI. Estimate of Oriental Civilization 74 

BOOK III. THE GREEKS 

V. The Dawn of European Civilization and the Rise of the 
Eastern Mediterranean World 

I. The Dawn of Civilization in Europe 78 

II. The /Egean World : the Islands 79 

III. The .^gean World : the Mainland 82 

v 



vi History of Europe 

CHAPTER PAGE 

IV. The Coming of the Greeks 86 

V. The Nomad Greeks make the Transition to the Settled Life . 89 
VI. Greek Civilization in the Age of the Kings 91 

VI. The Age of the Nobles and Greek Expansion in the 
Mediterranean 
I. The Disappearance of the Kings and the Leadership of the 

Nobles * . 99 

II. Greek Expansion in the Age of the Nobles 102 

in. Greek Civilization in the Age of the Nobles 103 

VII. The Industrial Revolution and the Age of the Tyrants 

I. The Industrial and Commercial Revolution 108 

II. Rise of the Democracy and the Age of the Tyrants . . . . in 

III. Civilization in the Age of the Tyrants 115 

VIII. The Repulse of Persia and the Rise of the Athe.man 
Empire 

I. The Coming of the Persians 121 

II. The Greek Repulse of Persians and Phoenicians 124 

III. The Rivalry with Sparta and the Rise of the Athenian Empire 129 

IX. Athens in the Age of Pericles 

I. The Home, Education, and Training of Young Citizens . . 137 
II. Higher Education, Science, and the Training gained by 

State Service 139 

III. Art and Literature 144 

X. The Fall of the Athenian Empire 

I. The Second Peloponnesian War 150 

II. Third Peloponnesian War and Destruction of the Athenian 

Empire 1 53 

XI. The Final Conflicts among the Greek States and their 
Higher Life .\fter Pericles 

I. Spartan Leadership and the Decline of Democracy .... 158 

II. The Fall of Sparta and the Leadership of Thebes .... 160 

III. Sculpture and Painting 161 

IV. Religion, Literature, and Thought 162 

XII. Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age 

I. The Rise of Macedonia 169 

II. Campaigns of Alexander the Great 171 

III. International Policy of Alexander: its Personal Consequences 175 

IV. The Heirs of Alexander's Empire 177 

V. The Civilization of the Hellenistic Age 179 



'Contents vii 

CHAPTER BOOJC IV. THE ROMANS 

PAGE 

XIII. The Western Mediterranean World and the Roman 

Conquest of Italy 

I. The Western Mediterranean World i8q 

II. Earliest Rome ,q^ 

III. The Character of the Early Republic: its Progress and 

Government jq^ 

IV. The Expansion of the Roman Republic and the Conquest 

of Italy ,QO 

XIV. The Roman Conquest of the Western Mediterranean 

World 

I. Italy under the Early Roman Republic 205 

II. The Rising Rivalry between Rome and Carthage .... 207 

III. The Struggle with Carthage: the Sicilian War, or First 

Punic War 2jq 

IV. The Hannibalian War (Second Punic War) and the Destruc- 

tion of Carthage 211 

XV. World Dominion and Degeneracy 

I. The Roman Conquest of the Eastern Mediterranean World 218 

II. RomanGovernmentandCivilizationinthe Age of Conquest 219 

III. Degeneration in City and Country 224 

XVI. A Century of Revolution and the End of the Republic 
I. The Land Situation and the Beginning of the Struggle 

between Senate and People 230 

II. The Rise of One-Man Power : Marius and Sulla .... 231 

III. The Overthrow of the Republic : Pompey and Caesar . . 234 

IV. The Triumph of Augustus.and the End of the Civil War . 240 

XVII. The First Century of Peace: the Age of Augustus and 
the Successors of his Line 
I. The Rule of Augustus (30 b.c.-a. D. 14) and the Beginning 

of Two Centuries of Peace 244 

II. The Civilization of the Augustan Age 247 

III. The Line of Augustus and the End of the First Century of 

Peace (a. D. 14-68) 21:1 

XVIII. The Second Century of Peace and the Civilization of 
the Early Roman Empire 
I. The Emperors of the Second Century of Peace (beginning 

A-D. 69) 255 

II. The Civilization of the Early Roman Empire : the Provinces 259 
III. The Civilization of the Early Roman Empire : Rome . . 265 



.J 



viii History of Europe 

CHAPTER PAGE 

IV. Popularity of Oriental Religions and the Spread of Early 

Christianity 270 

V. Marcus Aurelius and the End of the Second Century of Peace 272 

XIX. A Century of Revolutio.v and the IDivision of the Emim kk 

I. Internal Decline of the Roman Empire 275 

II. A Century of Revolution ". 278 

III. The Roman Empire an Oriental Despotism 280 

IV. The Division of the Ernpire and the Triumph of Christianity 283 
V. Retrospect 286 

BOO A' V. THE MIDDLE AGES 

XX. The German Invasions and the Break-up of the Roman 

Empire 

I. Founding of Kingdoms by Barbarian Chiefs 289 

II. Kingdom of the Franks 299 

III. Results of the Barbarian Invasions 302 

XXI. The Rise of the Papacy 

I. The Christian Church 307 

II. Origin of the Power of the Popes 311 

XXII. The Monks and their Missionary Work; the Moham- 
medans 

I. Monks and Monasteries 316 

II. Missionary Work of the Monks 320 

III. Mohammed and his Religion 322 

XXIII. Charlemagne and his Empire 

I. Conquests of Charlemagne 330 

II. Establishment of a Line of Emperors in the West .... 334 

III. How Charlemagne carried on his Government 336 

XXIV. The Age of Disorder; Feudalism 

I. The Disruption of Charlemagne's Empire 339 

II. The Medieval Castle . ' 343 

III. The Serfs and the Manor 346 

IV. Feudal System 350 

V. Neighborhood Warfare in the Middle Ages 353 

XXV. England in the Middle .^ges 

I. The Norman Conquest 357 

II. Henry II and the Plantagenets 362 

III. The Great Charter and the Beginnings of Parliament . . 369 

IV. Wales and Scotland 373 

V. The Hundred Year^' W^ar 376 



Contents ix 

CHAPTER- 
PAGE 

XXVI. Popes and Emperors 

I. Origin of the Holy Roman Empire 387 

II. The Church and its Property -,30 

III. The Long Struggle between Popes and Emperors ... 393 

XXVII. The Crusades 

I. Origin of the Crusades .... 

II. The First Crusade ... 

• • • 403 



III. The Religious Orders of the Hospitalers and Templars . 406 

IV. The Second and Later Crusad 
V. Chief Results of the Crusades 



IV. The Second and Later Crusades ,08 

410 

BOOK VI. MEDIEVAL CIVILIZATION 

XXVIII. The Medieval Church at its Height 

I. Organization and Powers of the Church 41^ 

II. The Heretics and the Inquisition 418 

III. The Franciscans and Dominicans ,,i 

IV. Church and State . . 

•. • 425 

XXIX. Medieval Towns — their Business and Buildings 

I. The Towns and Guilds 

II. Business in the Later Middle Ages \\<o 

III. Gothic Architecture 

IV. The Italian Cities of the Renaissance 448 

V. Early Geographical Discoveries . . . ct 

XXX. Books and Science in the Middle Ages 

I. How the Modern Languages Originated 464 

II. The Troubadours and Chivalry .^ 

III. Medieval Science 

IV. Medieval Universities and Studies 

V. Beginnings of Modern Inventions 

VI. The Art of the Renaissance 8 

BOOK VII. THE PROTESTANT REVOLT AND THE WARS 

OF RELIGION 

XXXI. Emperor Charles V and his Va.st Realms 

I. Emperor Maximilian and the Hapsburg Marriages ... 488 
II. How Italy became the Battleground of the European 

Powers .... 

493 

III. Condition of Germany when Charles V became Emperor 498 



X History of Europe 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XXXII. Martin Luther and the Revolt of Germany against 
THE Papacy 

I. The Question of Reforming the Church : Erasmus . . 500 

II. How Martin Luther revolted against the Papacy ... 504 

III. The Diet at ^Vorms (1 520-1 52 1) 510 

IV. The Revolt against the Papacy begins in Germany . . 513 

V. Division of Germany into Catholic and Protestant 

Countries 515 

XXXIII. The Protestant Revolt in Switzerland and England 

I. Zwingli and Calvin 520 

II. How England fell away from the Papacy 523 

III. England becomes Protestant 528 

XXXIV. The Wars of Religion 

I. The Council of Trent ; the Jesuits 532 

II. Philip II and the Revolt of the Netherlands 536 

III. The Huguenot Wars in France 542 

IV. England under Queen Elizabeth 547 

V. The Thirty Years' War 553 

VI. The Beginnings of our Scientific Age 559 

BOOK VIII. THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH 

CENTURIES 

XXXV. Struggle in England between King and Parliament 

I. James I and the Divine Right of Kings 565 

II. How Charles I got along without Parliament 568 

III. How Charles I lost his Head 572 

IV. Oliver Cromwell : England a Commonwealth 576 

V. The Restoration 581 

VI. The Revolution of 1688 583 

XXXVI. France under Louis XIV 

I. Position and Character of Louis XIV 586 

II. How Louis encouraged Art and Literature 589 

III. Louis XIV attacks his Neighbors 592 

IV. Louis XIV and his Protestant Subjects 594 

V. War of the Spanish Succession 595 

XXXVII. Russia and Prussia become European Powers 

I. Beginnings of Russia 599 

II. Peter the Great 602 

III. Origin of the Kingdom of Prussia 604 

IV. The Wars of Frederick the Great 609 

V. Three Partitions of Poland, 1772, 1793, and 179s ... 612 



Contents xi 

CHAPTER 

PAGE 

VI. The Austrian Realms: Maria Theresa and Joseph II . 6i6 
VII. Reforms of Frederick II. Catherine II, and Joseph II 619 
XXXVIII. How England became Queen of the Ocean 

I. England after the Revolution of 1688 625 

II. The English Limited Monarchy in the Eighteenth 

Century and George III 629 

III. How Europe began to extend its Commerce over the 

Whole World 5^2 

IV. The Contest between France and England for Colonial 

Empire ^^^ 

V. Revolt of the American Colonies from England ... 638 

BIBLIOGRAPHY ... . 

647 

INDEX 

• • 667 



LIST OF COLORED PLATES 

Plate I page 

RESTORATION OF THE GREAT PYRAMIDS AND OTHER TOMB 
MONUMENTS IN THE ANCIENT CEMETERY OF GIZEH, 

EGYPT Frontispiece 

Plate II 

THE PLAIN OF ARGOS FROM THE CASTLE OF TIRYNS . . 84 

Plate III 

THE GREEK THEATER AT TAORMINA, WITH ITS ROMAN 
ADDITIONS 106 

Plate IV 

A CORNER OF THE PARTHENON ........ 1 44 

Plate V 

GREEKS AND PERSIANS HUNTING LIONS WITH ALEXANDER 

THE GREAT 1 82 

Plate VI 

STREET SCENE IN CAIRO , 326 

Plate VII 

SCENES FROM THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY 358 

Plate VIII 

PAGE FROM A BOOK OF HOURS, FIFTEENTH CENTURY . . 480 



XU 



LIST OF COLORED MAPS 

PAGE 

The Ancient Oriental World 42 

Sequence Map showing Expansion of Oriental Empires (I to IV) ... 58 

Palestine, the Land of the Hebrews 70 

Greece in the Fifth Century b. c 90 

Colonial Expansion of Greeks and Phoenicians 100 

Central Greece and Athens 138 

Empire of Alexander the Great 176 

Italy and Adjacent Lands 192 

Sequence Map showing Expansion of Roman Power ... to the Death of 

Caesar (I to IV) 218 

Sequence Map . . . of the Roman Empire from Death of Caesar (44 B.C.) 

to Death of Diocletian (a.d. 305) (I and II) 26c 

Roman Empire as organized by Diocletian and Constantine 282 

Migrations of the Germans 292 

Europe in the Time of Charlemagne 336 

The British Isles 372 

Europe about a.d. 1000 388 

Routes of the Crusaders 404 

Commercial Towns and Trade Routes, Thirteenth and Fourteenth 

Centuries 436 

Behaim's Globe, 1492 458 

Europe about the Middle of the Sixteenth Century 496 

Germany about 1550 506 

Europe when Louis XIV began his Personal Government 586 

Europe after the Treaties of Utrecht and Rastadt 592 



xni 



HISTORY OF EUROPE: ANCIENT 
• ' AND MEDIEVAL 

BOOK I. EARLIEST MAN 

CHAPTER I 

EARLIEST MAN IN EUROPE 

I. The Progress of Earliest Man 

1. Early Inventions and the Progress of Man. We all know 
that our fathers and mothers never saw an aeroplane when they 
were children, and very few of them had ever seen an automobile. 
Their fathers lived during most of their lives without electric 
lights or telephones in their houses. Their grandfathers, our 
great-grandfathers, were obliged to make all long journeys in 
stagecoaches drawn by horses, and some of them died without 
ever having seen a locomotive. 

Each invention has grown out of earlier inventions, and each 
would have been impossible without the discoveries which preceded 
it. Thus, if we went back far enough, we should reach a point 
where no one could build a stagecoach or a wagon, because no 
one had invented a wheel or tamed a wild horse. Earlier still 
there were no ships and no travel or commerce by sea. There 
were no metal tools, for no one had ever seen any metal. It was 
impossible to write, for no one had invented writing, and so there 
were no books nor any knowledge of science ; and such institutions 
as schools and churches or even laws and government did not yet 
exist. This book is intended to tell the story of how mankind 



2 History of Europe 

gained all these and many other things, and thus built up great 
nations which struggled among themselves for leadership, then 
weakened and fell. The earlier part of this story forms what we 
call ancient history. 

2. The First Steps and the Earliest Ages of Human 
Progress. If we go back far enough in the story of man, we 
reach a time when he possessed nothing whatever but his bare 
hands with which to protect himself, satisfy his hunger, and meet 
all his other needs. He must have been without speech and un- 
able even to build a fire. There was no one to teach him anything. 
The earliest men who began in this situation had to learn every- 
thing for themselves by slow experience and long effort, and every 
tool, however simple, had to be invented. 

We cannot now trace all the different stages in his earliest 
progress ; but this, earliest progress brought to man two things 
without which he could have made no progress : the ability to 
speak and the means of kindling a fire (see Ancient Times, Fig. i). 
After this he gained a third invention of the greatest assistance to 
him. He sometimes found a broken stone and used its ragged 
edge to aid him in hacking off his meat or shaping his wooden 
club. He then found that he could improve the form of such a 
stone, and thus he gradually learned to shape a rude stone tool or^ 
weapon {Ancient Times, Fig. 2). At this point he entered what 
we now call the Stone Age, more than fifty thousand years ago. 

From this point on we can hold in our hands the very stone 
implements which early men used. We can distinguish, in the 
examples of their handiwork which still survive, three successive 
ages, which we may call the Early Stone Age, the Middle Stone 
Age, and the Late Stone Age. 

II. The Early Stone Age 

3. The Life of Early Stone Age Men. European savages en- 
tered the Early Stone Age over fifty thousand years ago — perhaps 
much earlier. In order to secure their food they followed the 
life of hunters, roaming about in the great forests which covered 



Earliest Man in Europe 




much of western Europe. In that dis- 
tant age Europe possessed a tropical 
climate, and tropical animals filled its 
forests. Huge beasts like the hippo- 
potamus wallowed along the banks of 
the rivers in the region which is now 
France and England. The fierce rhi- 
noceros charged through the jungles. As 
the hunter fled before them he caught 
glimpses of gigantic elephants plunging 
through the thick tropical growth. At 
night he had no hut or shelter in which 
he might take refuge. He slept on the 
ground wherever he happened to be over- 
taken by darkness. 

4. Earliest Flint Weapons and their 
Preservation. These early hunters 
gradually improved their first rough 
stone weapons and tools. They finally 
succeeded in producing what we now 
call a fist-hatchet (Fig. i). It was a 
roughly shaped piece of flint, with a 
ragged edge sharp enough to use for cut- 
ting and chopping. Sometimes such 
stone weapons were lost on river banks 
and were gradually covered by sand, 
gravel, and soil which has since col- 
lected there. Thus buried they are found 
to-day in large numbers along the rivers 
of England, Belgium, and France. 
Along with them are often found the 
bones of the huge tropical animals we 
have mentioned, which long ago dis- 
appeared from their European haunts. 

5. The Coming of the Ice. For thousands of years the life of 
the hunter went on with little change. He slowly improved his 



Fig. I. A Flint Fist- 
Hatchet OF THE Early 
Stoxe Age 

Rough flint flakes older than 
the fist-hatchet still survive 
to show us man's earliest 
efforts at shaping stone. 
But the fist-hatchet is the 
earliest well-finished type 
of tool produced by man. 
The original is about nine 
inches long, and the draw- 
ing reduces it to less than 
one third. Either end might 
be used as the cutting edge, 
but it was usually grasped 
in the fist by the narrower 
part, and never had any 
handle. Handles of wood 
or horn do not appear until 
much later (cf. Fig. 6, ^, j). 



4 History of Europe 

rough stone fist-hatchet, and he probably learned to make addi- 
tional implements of wood, but of these last we know nothing. 
Then he began to notice that the air of his forest home was losing 
its tropical warmth. Geologists have not yet found out why, but 
as the centuries passed, the ice, which all the year round still 
overlies the region of the North Pole and the summits of the 
Alps, began to descend. The northern ice crept further and 
further southward until it covered England as far south as the 
Thames. The glaciers of the Alps pushed down the Rhone valley 
as far as the spot where the city of Lyons now stands. On our 
own continent of North America the southern edge of the ice is 
marked by lines of bowlders carried and left there by the ice. 
Such lines of bowlders are found, for example, as far south as 
Long Island and westward along the valleys of the Ohio and 
the Missouri.^ The hunter saw the glittering blue masses of ice, 
with their crown of snow, pushing through the green of his 
forest abode and crushing down vast trees in many a sheltered 
glen or favorite hunting ground. Gradually these savage men 
of early Europe were forced to accustom themselves to a colder 
climate, and many of the animals familiar to the hunter retreated 
to the warmer south, never to return. 

III. The Middle Stone Age 

6. Remains of Middle Stone Age Man in Caverns. The hunt- 
ers were unable to build themselves shelters from the cold. They 
therefore took refuge in limestone caves, where they and their 
descendants continued to live for thousands of years. This period 
we call the Middle Stone Age. Century after century the sand 
and earth continued to blow into these caverns, and fragments 
of rock fell from the ceiling. Thus masses of rubbish accumulated 

1 Geologists have now shown that the ice advanced southward and retreated to the 
north again no less than four times. Following each advance of the ice a warm interval 
caused its retreat. There were four warm intervals, and we are now living in the fourth. 
The evidence now indicates that men began to make stone implements in the third 
warm interval. The last advance of the ice therefore took place between us and them. 
It is perhaps some thirty thousand years ago that the ice began to come south for the 
last time. See map and diagram in Ancie?i/ Times, p. 8. 



Earliest Man in Europe 



on the cavern floor, and in one case it was as much as forty feet 
deep. To-day we find among all this rubbish also many layers of 
ashes and charcoal from the cave-dweller's fire (see Ancient Times, 
Fig. 9), besides nu- 
merous tools, weapons, 
and implements which 
he used. These things 
disclose man's further 
progress, step by step, 
and show us that he 
had now left the old 
fist-hatchet far behind 
and become a real 
craftsman. 

7. The Industries 
of Middle Stone Age 
Man. The tiny flint 
chips still found at the 
door of his cave show 
us how the hunter 
must have sat there 
carefully chipping the 
edges of his flint tools. 
By this time he had 
a considerable list of 
tools from which he 
could select. At his 
elbow were knives, 
chisels, drills and ham- 
mers, polishers and 
scrapers, all of flint 
(Fig. 2). He could 




Fig. 2. 



Flint Tools and Weapons 
THE Middle Stone Age 



OF 



From right to left they include knives, spear- 
and arrow-points, scrapers, drills, and various 
edged tools. They show great skill and preci- 
sion in flaking. The fine edges have all been 
produced by chipping off a line of flakes along 
the margin, seen especially in the long piece at 
the right. This chipping was done by pressure. 
The brittleness of flint is such that if a hard 
piece of bone is pressed firmly against a flint 
edge, a flake of flint, often reaching far back 
from the edge, will snap off in response to 
increasing pressure. This was a great im- 
provement over the earliest method by striking, 
or percussion (see Fig. i and Ancient Times, Fig. 2) 



now produce such a 

fine cutting edge by chipping (see Ancient Times, § 15) that 
he could work ivory, bone, and especially reindeer horn. 
With his enlarged list of tools he was able to shape pins. 



2> 



6 History of Europe 

needles, spoons, and ladles, all of ivory or bone, and carve them 
with pictures of the animals he hunted in the forest (Fig. 4). 
The fine ivory needles (Fig. 3) show that the hunter's body was 
now protected from cold by clothing sewed together out of the 
skins of the animals he had slain. He also fashioned keen barbed 
ivory spear points which he mounted, each on a long wooden 
shaft. He had also discovered the bow and arrow, and he carried 
at his girdle a sharp flint dagger. 

8. Middle Stone Age Art. These Middle Stone Age hunters 
could not only draw (Fig. 4) but they could also paint with the 

greatest skill. In the cav- 
erns of southern France and 
northern Spain their paint- 

_ , ^, ings have been found in 

Fig. 3. Ivory Needle of the '^ . . 

Middle Stone Age surprising numbers in re- 

^ , ,, , , .„ . . . cent years. Long lines of 

Such needles are found still surviving in -^ '^ 

the rubbish in the French caverns, where bison, deer, or wild horseS 
the wives of the prehistoric hunters lost cover the walls and ceilings 
them and failed to find them again twenty ^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^ Sometimes 
thousand years ago. i hey show that these 

women were already sewing together the they are only carved on the 
skins of wild animals as clothing j-QCk wall (Fig. 4, 2) ; but 

many are painted in colors. 
They are all startling in their lifelikeness and vigor. These paint- 
ings, — made at least ten thousand years ago, — together with the 
carvings on the hunter's ivory and bone weapons (Fig. 4, i, j, 4), 
form the earliest art in the whole career of man, in so far as we 
know. 

IV. The Late Stone Age 

9. Last Retreat of the Ice ; the Late Stone Age. At length the 
climate again grew warmer and became what it is to-day. The 
traces left by the ice would lead us to think that it withdrew 
northward for the last time probably some ten thousand years 
ago. Men of a different race from those of the Early and Middle 
Stone Ages had meantime invaded western Europe. These men 
had learned that it was possible to grind the edge of a stone ax 



Earliest Man in Europe 7 

or chisel (Fig. 6, 4) as we now do with tools of metal. They 
were also able to drill a hole in the stone ax head and insert a 
handle (Fig. 6, 5). The common use of the ground stone ax, after 
the retreat of the ice, brings in the Late Stone Age. Traces of the 




Fig. 4. Drawings carved by Middle Stone Age Man on Ivory 

/, marching line of reindeer with salmon in the spaces — probably a talis- 
man to bring the hunter and fisherman good luck ; 2, a bison at bay 
(not on ivory but incised in the rock of a cavern wall ; over one hun- 
dred and fifty caverns containing such paintings and carvings are known 
in France and Spain) ; j, a grazing reindeer ; 4, a running reindeer. See 

Ancient Times, Figs. 9, 10 

villages and settlements of Late Stone Age man have been found 
throughout all Europe, except in the extreme north. 

10. Progress of Late Stone Age Man. The life of Late Stone 
Age man gradually made progress in a number of very impor- 
tant matters. First, with their ground stone axes, hatchets, and 
chisels (Fig. 6) men could now build wooden huts. These wooden 



8 



History of Europe 



dwellings of the Late Stone Age (Fig. 5) are the earliest such shel- 
ters found in Europe. Sunken fragments of these houses are found 
all along the shores of the Swiss lakes, lying at the bottom, among 
the piles which supported the houses of the village. Second, such 
tools also enabled the lake-dwellers to make a great deal of wooden 




Fig. 5. Restoration of a Swiss Lake-Dweller's Settlement 

The lake-dwellers felled trees with their stone axes (Fig. 6, j) and cut them 
into piles some twenty feet long, sharpened at the lower end. These they 
drove several feet into the bottom of the lake, in water eight or ten feet 
deep. On a platform supported by these piles they then built their houses. 
The platform was connected with the shore by a bridge, which may be seen 
here on the right. A section of it could be removed at night for protection. 
The fish nets seen drying at the rail, the " dugout " boat of the hunters 
who bring in the deer, and many other things have been found on the 

lake bottom in recent times 



furniture. Pieces of stools, chests, carved dippers, spoons, and 
the like, all of wood, show that these houses were equipped with 
all ordinary wooden furniture. Third, the householder had also 
learned that clay will harden in the fire, and he was making handy 
jars, bowls, and dishes of burned clay (Fig. 6). Although roughly 
made without the use of the potter's wheel and unevenly burned 
without an oven, they added much to the equipment of his dwelling. 



Earliest Man in Europe 

Fourth, the lake-dweller had somewhere gained knowledge of 
flax} Before his door the women sat spinning flaxen yarn, and 
the rough skin clothing of his ancestors had given way to gar- 
ments of woven stuff. Fifth, the lake-dwellers had already re- 
ceived one of the greatest possessions gained by man in his slow 




Fig. 6. Part of the Equipment of a Late Stone Age 
Lake-Dweller seen in Fig. 5 

This group contains the evidence for three important inventions made or 
received by the men of the Late Stone Ag&: Jirst, pottery jars, like 2 andj, 
with rude decorations, the oldest baked clay in Europe, and i, a large kettle 
in which the lake-dwellers' food was cooked ; second, ground-edged tools 
like 4, stone chisel with ground edge (§ 9), mounted in a deerhorn handle 
like a hatchet, or ^, stone ax with a ground edge and pierced with a hole 
for the ax handle (the houses of Fig. 5 were built with such tools) ; and third, 
weaving, as shown by 6, a spinning " whorl " of baked clay, the earliest spin- 
ning wheel. When suspended by a rough thread of flax eighteen to twenty 
inches long, it was given a whirl which made it spin in the air like a top, thus 
rapidly twisting the thread by which it was hanging. The thread when suffi- 
ciently twisted was wound up, and another length of eighteen or twenty inches 
was drawn out from the unspun flax to be similarly twisted. One of these 
earliest spinning wheels has been found in the Swiss lakes with a spool of 
flaxen thread still attached. (From photograph lent by Professor Hoernes) 

advance toward civilization. This was the food grains which we 
call cereals, especially wheat and barley. The seeds of the wild 
grasses, which their ancestors once gathered, these Late Stone 

1 Flax, grain, and cattle-breeding were without doubt introduced into Europe from 
the Orient. 



10 History of Europe 

Age men had learned to cultivate. Thus wild grain was domesti- 
cated, and agriculture was introduced. Sixth, these Late Stone 
Age men possessed domestic cattle. On the green uplands above 
were now pasturing the creatures which Middle Stone Age man 
had once pursued through the wilds {Ancient Times, Fig. 12). 
For the mountain sheep and goats and the wild cattle had now 
learned to dwell near man and submit to his control. Indeed, the 
wild ox bowed his neck to the yoke and drew the plow across the 
forest-girt field where he had once wandered in unhampered 
freedom. Fragments of wooden wheels in the lake-villages show 
that he was also drawing the wheeled cart, the earliest in Europe. 

11. Earliest Communities Organized. Wooden houses, agri- 
culture, and the possession of domestic animals resulted in a more 
settled and less roaming life. Communities were formed. Groups 
of massive tombs still surviving, built of enormous blocks of stone, 
required the united efforts of large numbers of men. Also, the 
driving of fifty thousand piles for the lake-village at Wangen in 
Switzerland shows that men were learning to work together. 

Friendly intercourse between these communities was also known. 
The amber from the north and the wide distribution of a certain 
kind of flint found in only one mine of France tell us of the begin- 
nings of commerce between the prehistoric communities of Europe. 

12. Summary of European Man's Progress down to about 
3000 B. c. Let us now look back for a moment and see how much 
early man had gained in over fifty thousand years of slow prog- 
ress. Before his first stone weapon he had learned to speak, then 
to kindle fire, and after that came his earliest efforts to work 
stone. For ages afterward {Early Stone Age) his progress con- 
sisted chiefly of improvements in his stone weapons. Then after 
the ice came down {Middle Stone Age) he learned to use ivory, 
bone, and reindeer horn, including ivory needles for sewing to- 
gether skin clothing. He even painted wonderful animal figures 
on the walls of his cavern home and carved the same animals on 
his weapons. Later, as the ice retreated {Late Stone Age), and 
he learned to grind the edge of his stone tools, he could build 
wooden dwellings and fill them with wooden utensils and furniture. 



Earliest Man in Europe ii 

He was also able to make pottery, spin and weave flax for cloth- 
ing, cultivate grain, and follow agriculture. Then he learned to 
keep the once wild creatures, like cattle and sheep, as tamed 
domestic animals. At the same time Stone Age men had learned 
to lead a settled life in towns and villages. 

13. Late Stone Age Barbarism all around the Mediter- 
ranean. Thus far we have followed man's advance only in Eu- 
rope. Similar progress had also been made by Stone Age men all 
around the Mediterranean ; that is, about 4000 b. c, not only in 
Europe but in Asia, and especially in northern Africa, mankind 
had reached about the same stage of advancement. 

14. Rise of Civilization in Egypt (4000-3000 B.C.). But 
civilization cannot arise or exist at all without the following three 
things : the use of metals, the possession of writing, and the con- 
trol of men by an organized government. Nowhere around the 
entire Mediterranean did the world of Late Stone Age barbarism 
as yet possess these things, nor did Europe ever gain them for 
itself unaided. Europe borrowed them. Hence we must now turn 
elsewhere to see where these and many other things that help to 
make up civilization first appeared. 

In the southeast corner of the Mediterranean (see map, p. 176) 
the valley of the river Nile formed a home for men so well supplied 
with everything needful for human life and so favorably situated 
that the Late Stone Age men of Egypt, as the lower Nile valley 
is called, began to make more rapid progress than the Late Stone 
Age men of Europe. The Egyptians, emerging from the Late 
Stone Age, invented a system of writing, discovered metal, and 
learned to use it. Thus in the thousand years between 4000 and 
3000 B.C. the Egyptians of the Late Stone Age advanced to a 
great and wonderful civilization, while the Europeans still re- 
mained in barbarism. 

In the sailing ships which the Egyptians learned to build, 
the things like metal and writing, so important in civilization, be- 
gan to pass from the dwellers along the Nile to the Late Stone 
Age Europeans about 3000 b.c. Barbarian Europe was thus dis- 
covered by civilized people crossing the Mediterranean, just as 






12 History of Europe 

barbarian America was later discovered by civilized men who 
crossed the Atlantic, Hence in order to understand the further 
history of Europe we must turn to Egypt and the Near Orient/ 
of which Egypt is a part. There we shall take up the Egyptians 
just as they had reached the end of the Late Stone Age, and 
we shall follow them as they gained civilization and became the 
first great civilized nation. 

15. Prehistoric (to 4000 B.C.) and Historic (after 3000 B.C.) 
Periods. It was not until man invented writing and began to 
produce written documents and monuments bearing inscrip- 
tions that the Historic Period began. All that we know about men 
of the Stone Age we have to learn from their surviving weapons, 
tools, implements, buildings, and other works of their hands, bear- 
ing no writing. The age before the appearance of written records 
we call the Prehistoric Period. The transition from the Prehistoric 
to the Historic Period did not take place suddenly, but was a slow 
process. The Historic Period began in the Orient during the 
thousand years between 4000 and 3000 B.C./ as barbarism slowly 
gave way to civilization and writing became more common. 

16. The Orient and Europe. The transition from the Pre- 
historic to the Historic Period took place in the Orient because 
civilization arose there. Civilization there is over five thousand 
years old. It long flourished in the Orient, where it arose, and 
there great and powerful nations held the leadership for over three 
thousand years. The barbarians of Late Stone Age Europe, how- 
ever, long continued without metals and writing. Then, as they 
slowly acquired these things, leadership in civilization at length 
passed from the Orient to Europe in the sixth century B.C. We 
must now, therefore, turn to the Orient to see how man struggled 
up out of the age of stone tools and weapons into civilization and to 
follow three thousand years of oriental leadership in civilized life. 

1 The word " Orient " is used to-day to include Japan, China, and India. These lands 
make up a Far Orient. There is also a Near Orient, consisting of the lands around the 
eastern end of the Mediterranean, that is, Egypt and Western Asia, including Asia 
Minor. We shall use the word " Orient" in this book to designate the Near Orient. 

2 Notice that dates before Christ (b.c.) are numbered backward; that is, as time 
advances the numbers decrease. Thus 3000 B.C. is later than 4000 B.C.; iSoo B.C. is 
later than 1900 B.C. 



Earliest Man in Europe 13 

QUESTIONS 1 

I. What progress in invention have you noticed in your own Ufe- 
time ? Was there a time when man possessed none of these things ? 
•/What three ages did earhest man pass through ? 
• II. Describe man's earhest tools.'^How did he Hve, and what was 
Europe then like ? "AVhat do we call this age ?^ What great- change 
brought it to an end ? 

III.^AVhere did man then take refuge ?i/ Describe his progress and 
list his new inventionsXWhat art did he possess? 

IV. 'When did the ice withdraw for the last time? What new treat- 
ment of his edged tools did man then discover? *^Make a hst of his 
new possessions in this age. What remains of its towns and communi- 
ties still survive ? Did civilization arise in Europe ? Whence did it 
come to Europe ? Contrast the Prehistoric and Historic Periods. 

1 The numerals at the beginnings of the paragraphs indicate the numbered subdivi- 
sions of the text of the chapter in which the answers to the questions may be found. 

Note. The following necklace, of blue glazed beads, made in Egypt was found in a 
grave of the Late Stone Age in England. 




BOOK 11. THE ORIENT 

CHAPTER II 

THE STORY OF EGYPT 

I. Egypt and the Rise of the Earliest Civilization 

17. Egypt of To-day. We are to begin our study of the early 
Orient in Egypt. The traveler who visits Egypt at the present 
day lands in a very modern-looking harbor at Alexandria (see 
map, p. 176). He is presently seated in a comfortable railway 
car, in which we may accompany him as he is carried across a 
low flat plain covered with green fields and dotted with little 
villages of dark mud-brick huts and scattered palm groves. 

Wandering through this verdure is a network of irrigation 
canals (Fig. 7). Brown-skinned men of slender build, with dark 
hair, are seen at intervals along the banks of these canals, lifting 
irrigation buckets attached to simple devices (Fig. 7) exactly 
like the "well sweeps" of our grandfathers in New England. The 
irrigation trenches are thus kept full of water for about a hundred 
days until the grain ripens. It is the best of evidence that Egypt 
enjoys no rain. 

The black soil we see is unexcelled in fertility, for it is enriched 
each year by the overflow of the river. The roily waters rise above 
the river banks every summer, spread far over the flats, and stand 
there long enough to deposit a very thin layer of rich earthy sedi- 
ment. This sediment, deposited through ages, has built up the 
Delta, which we are now crossing. The Delta and the valley 
above, as far as the First Cataract, together form Egypt (see 
map, p. 42). It contains over ten thousand square miles of cul- 
tivable soil, or somewhat more than the state of Vermont. 

14 



The Story of Egypt 



IS 



18. The Most Favorable 
Situation for the Rise of 
Civilization. As our train 
approaches the southern 
point of the Delta we begin 
to see heights on either side 
of the valley. These heights 
(Fig. 17) are the plateau of 
the Sahara Desert, through 
which the Nile has cut a 
vast, deep trench as it winds 
its way northward from inner 
Africa. This trench, or val- 
ley, is seldom more than 
thirty miles wide, while the 
strip of soil on each side of 
the river rarely exceeds ten 
miles in width. With the ex- 
ception of the Delta, there- 
fore, Egypt lies at the bottom 
of a vast trench. Protected 
by the uninhabited desert on 
each side, this valley formed 
a sheltered home, provided 
with water, a rich soil, a 
mild climate, and plentiful 
supplies of raw material of 
nearly all kinds. Nowhere 
else on the Mediterranean 
was there a situation so fa- 
vorable for the progress of 
early men ; and nowhere else 
have the works of their 
hands, revealing their life in 
intimate detail, survived in 
such great numbers. 







Fig. 7. An Egyptian Shadoof, the 
Oldest of Well Sweeps, irrigat- 
ing THE Fields 

The man below stands in the water, hold- 
ing his leather bucket {A). The pole {B) 
of the sweep is above him, with a large ball 
of dried Nile mud on its lower end (C) 
as a lifting weight, or counterpoise, seen 
just behind the supporting post (Z>). This 
man lifts the water into a mud basin [E). 
A second man (in the middle) lifts it 
from this first basin (E) to a second 
basin (E), into which he is just empty- 
ing his bucket; while a third man (G) 
lifts the water from the middle basin {E') 
to the uppermost basin {//) on the top of 
the bank, where it runs off to the left into 
trenches spreading over the fields. The 
low water makes necessary three succes- 
sive lifts (to E, to E, to //) without ceas- 
ing night and day for one hundred days 
while the crops are growing. Lack of rain 
is thus atoned for by the Nile 



1 6 History oj Europe 

As we journey into the Nile valley, therefore, we soon realize 
that it can tell us a story of human progress through successive 
ages such as we can find nowhere else. The first age was that 
from about 4000 to 3000 b. c, during which man for the first time 
passed out of barbarism into civilization. 

The Nile-dweller's more fortunately situated home enabled him 
to outstrip in progress all other Late Stone Age peoples around 
the Mediterranean. The contents of prehistoric graves (see 
Ancient Times, Fig. 25) when examined in one cemetery after 
another show us gradually improving workmanship, which is 
evidence of this progress. 

19. Life of the Earliest Nile -Dwellers. These earliest 
Egyptians, like the earliest Europeans, had once been only hunt- 
ers living on the wild game in the Nile jungles. Wheat and 
barley found in their graves show that they were already cultivat- 
ing grain, — the grain that later passed to Europe. A fragment 
of linen in a grave tells us also whence Europe derived its flax. 
The peasant at the bottom of this grave was therefore watering 
his fields of flax and grain down on the fertile soil of the valley 
over six thousand years ago, just as the brown men whom the 
traveler sees from the car windows to-day are still doing. 

The villages of low mud-brick huts which flash by the car 
windows furnish us also with an exact picture of those vanished 
prehistoric villages, the homes of the early Nile-dwellers who are 
still lying in the graves on the desert margin. In such a village, 
over six thousand years ago, lived the local chieftain who con- 
trolled the irrigation-canal trenches of the district. To him the 
peasant was required to carry every season a share of the grain 
and flax which he gathered from his field ; otherwise the supply 
of water for his crops would stop, and he would receive an un- 
pleasant visit from the chieftain, demanding instant payment. 
These were the earliest taxes. 

20. Pictorial Records and Phonetic Signs. Such transactions 
led to scratching a rude picture of the basket grain-measure and 
a number of strokes on the mud wall of the peasant's hut, indicat- 
ing the number of measures of grain he had paid. In this and 



The Story of Egypt 1 7 

many other ways the peasant's dealings with his neighbors or 
with the chieftain led him to make picture records, and these are 
the earliest writing known (see Ancient Times, Fig. 28). 

Gradually each picture gained a fixed sound, for which it always 
stood. Let us imagine for convenience that Egyptian contained 
the English word "leaf." It might be written thus: ^. The 
Egyptian would in course of time come to look upon the leaf 
as the sign for the syllable "leaf" wherever it might occur. By 
the same process \S7 might become the sign for the syllable 
" bee " wherever found. Having thus a means of writing the syllables 
"bee" and "leaf," the next step was to put them together thus, 
W h, and they would together represent the word "belief." 
Notice, however, that in the word " belief " the sign \0 suggests 
no longer the idea of a bee but only the syllable "be." That is 
to say, ]M has become a phonetic sign. In this way early man 
could write many names of things of which you cannot make 
pictures. It is impossible to make a picture of "belief," as you 
can of a jar or a knife. Thus the Egyptians gradually gained 
many phonetic signs. 

21. Advantage of Phonetic Signs. If the writing of the 
Egyptian had remained merely a series of pictures, such words as 
"belief," "hate," "love," "beauty," and the like could never have 
been written. But when a large number of his pictures had be- 
come phonetic signs, each representing a syllable, it was possible 
for the Egyptian to write any word he knew, whether the word 
meant a thing of which he could draw a picture or not. This 
possession of phonetic signs is what makes real writing for the first 
time. It arose among these Nile-dwellers earlier than anywhere 
else in the ancient world. Indeed, the Egyptian went still further, 
for he finally possessed a series of signs, each representing only 
one letter ; that is, alphabetic signs, or real letters. There were 
twenty-four letters in this alphabet, which was known in Egypt 
long l:)efore 3000 B.C. It was thus the earliest alphabet known 
and the one from which our own has descended (see Ancient 
Times, §§ 51-56 and Figs. 29-30, where the reader will find the 
Egyptian alphabet). 



1 8 History of Europe 

22. Invention of Writing Materials. The Egyptians early 
found out that they could make an excellent paint or ink by 
thickening water with a little vegetable gum and then mixing in 
a little soot from the blackened pots over the fire. By dipping 
a pointed reed into this mixture one could write very well. They 
also learned that they could split a kind of river reed, called 
papyrus, into thin strips and make large sheets by pasting the 
strips together with overlapping edges. They thus produced a 
smooth, tough, pale-yellow paper, the earliest paper known. In 
this way arose pen, ink, and paper (see Fig. 8) . All three of these 
inventions have descended to us from the Egyptians, and "paper" 
still bears its ancient name, "papyrus," but slightly changed. 
With the invention of phonetic writing and writing materials 
civilization was about to begin, and with its advance the written 
records would begin to be made, which meant the end of the 
Prehistoric Period and the beginning of the Historic Period ( § 15). 

23. Egyptian Invention of our Calendar (4241 B.C.). The 
Egyptians at the same time found it necessary to measure time, 
for the peasant needed to know when he ought to go into the 
town for the next religious feast or how many days still remained 
before he must pay his neighbor the grain he borrowed last year. 
Like all other early peoples he found the time from new moon to 
new moon a very Convenient rough measure. But the moon-month 
varies in length from twenty-nine to thirty days, and it does 
not evenly divide the year. The Egyptian scribe early discovered 
this inconvenience, and he decided to use the moon no longer for 
dividing his year. He would have twelve months and he would 
make his months all of the same length ; that is, thirty days each. 
Then he would celebrate five feast days, a kind of holiday week 
five days long, at the end of the year. This gave him a year of 
365 days. He was not yet enough of an astronomer to know 
that every four years he ought to have a leap year, of 366 
days, although he discovered this fact later. This convenient 
Egyptian calendar was devised in 4241 b.c, and its introduction 
is the earliest dated event in history. Furthermore, this calendar 
is the very one which has descended to us, after more than six 



The Story of Egypt 19 

thousand years. Unfortunately, it has meantime suffered awk- 
ward alterations in the lengths of the months, alterations for which 
the Egyptians were not responsible (see p. 240). 

24. Discovery of Metal (at least 4000 B.C.). Meantime the 
Egyptians were also making great progress in other matters. It 
was probably in the peninsula of Sinai (see map, p. 42) that some 
Egyptian, wandering thither, once happened to bank his camp 
fire with pieces of copper ore lying on the ground about the camp. 
The charcoal of his wood fire mingled with the hot fragments of 
ore piled around to shield the fire, and thus the ore was " reduced," 
as the miner says ; that is, the copper in metallic form was released 
from the lumps of ore. Next morning as the Egyptian stirred 
the embers he discovered a few glittering globules, now hardened 
into beads of metal. He drew them forth and turned them admir- 
ingly as they glittered in the morning sunshine. Before long, as 
the experience was repeated, he discovered whence these strange 
shining beads had come. He produced more of them, at first only 
to be worn as ornaments by his women. Then he learned to cast 
the metal into a blade to replace the flint knife which he carried 
in his girdle. 

^25.; Dawning of the Age of Metal. Without knowing it this 
marif stood at the dawning of a new era, the Age of Metal. The 
little disk of shining copper which he drew from the ashes might 
have reflected to this Egyptian wanderer a vision, could he 
have seen it, of steel buildings, Brooklyn bridges, huge fac- 
tories roaring with the noise of thousands of machines of metal, 
and vast stretches of steel roads along which thunder hosts of 
rushing locomotives. For these things of our modern world, and 
all they signify, would never have come to pass but for the little 
bead of metal which the Egyptian held in his hand for the first 
time on that eventful day so long ago. Since the discovery of 
fire over fifty thousand years earlier (§2) man had made no 
conquest of the things of the earth which could compare in im- 
portance • /ith this discovery of metal. 

26. First Glimpse of the Pyramids. Such are the thoughts 
which occupy the mind of the well-informed traveler as his 



20 History of Europe 

train carries him southward across the Delta. The train rounds 
a bend, and through an opening in the palms the traveler is 
fairly blinded by a burst of blazing sunshine from the western 
desert, in the midst of which he discovers a group of noble 
pyramids rising above the glare of the sands. It is his first 
glimpse of the great pyramids of Gizeh, and it tells him better 
than any printed page what the Egyptian builders with copper 
tools in their hands were able to do. A few minutes later his 
train is moving among the modern buildings of Cairo, and the 
very next day will surely find him taking the seven-mile drive 
from Cairo out to Gizeh. 

II. The Pyramid Age 

27. The Pyramids as Royal Tombs. No traveler ever forgets 
his first drive to the pyramids of Gizeh, as he sees their giant 
forms rising higher and higher above the crest of the western 
desert (frontispiece). These pyramids are tombs, in which the 
kings of Egypt were buried. Other tombs of masonry, much 
smaller in size, cluster about the pyramids in great numbers 
(frontispiece). Here were buried the relatives of the king, and the 
great men of his court who assisted him in the government of the 
land (Fig. 8). Such mighty buildings reveal many things about 
the men who built them. In the first place, they show that 
the Egyptians believed in a life after death and that to obtain 
such life they thought it necessary to preserve the body from 
destruction. They built these tombs to protect the body after 
death. From this belief came also the practice of "embalming," 
by which the body was preserved as a mummy (Fig. 20). 

28. The Gods of Egypt: Re and Osiris. The Egyptians had 
many gods, but there were two whom they worshiped above all 
others. The Sun, which shines so gloriously in the cloudless 
Egyptian sky, was their greatest god, and their most splendid 
temples were erected for his worship. Indeed, the pyramid was 
a symbol sacred to the Sun-god. They called him Re (pron. ray). 
The other great power which they revered as a god was the 



The Story of Egypt 21 

shining Nile. The great river and the fertile soil he refreshes, 
and the green life which he brings forth — all these the Egyptian 
thought of together as a single god, Osiris, the imperishable life 
of the earth which revives and fades every year with the changes 
of the seasons, 

29. Rapid Progress from the Earliest Stone Masonry to the 
Great Pyramid. But this vast cemetery of Gizeh tells us of many 
other things besides the religion of the Egyptians. As we look 
up at the colossal pyramids behind the Sphinx (frontispiece) we 
can hardly grasp the fact of the enormous forward stride taken 
by the Egyptians since the days when they used to be buried 
with their flint knives in a pit scooped out on' the margin of the 
desert. It was chiefly the use of metal which carried them so 
far. That Egyptian in Sinai who noticed the first bit of metal 
(§ 24) lived over -a thousand years before these pyramids were 
built. He was buried in a pit like that of the earliest Egyptian 
peasant. By the thirty-fourth century B.C. the Egyptians were 
building the tombs of their kings of sun-baked brick. Such a 
royal tomb was merely a chamber in the ground, roofed with wood 
and covered with a mound of sand and gravel. Similar tombs 
continued to be built until about 3000 b.c, only a century before 
the Great Pyramid of Gizeh. 

Meantime some skillful workmen found out that with their 
copper tools they could cut blocks of limestone and line the 
burial chamber with these stone blocks in place of the soft bricks. 
This was the first piece of stone masonry ever put together in 
so far as we know. It was built not more than fifty years before 
3000 B.C. In the course of the next century and a half or less 
the first tombs of pyramidal form were erected, and by 2900 b.c. 
the king's architect was building the Great Pyramid of Gizeh. 
Most of this amazing progress was made during the thirtieth cen- 
tury B.C.; that is, between 3000 and 2900 b.c. (see diagram. 
Ancient Times, Fig. 38). Such rapid progress in control of 
mechanical power can be found in no other period of the world's 
history until the great development of machinery in the nineteenth 
century, which has just passed. 



22 History of Europe 

30. Vast Size of the Great Pyramid. It helps us to reahze 
this progress when we know that the Great Pyramid covers 
thirteen acres. It is a soHd mass of masonry containing 2,300,000 
blocks of limestone, each weighing on an average two and a half 
tons ; that is, each block is as heavy as a large wagonload of 
coal. The sides of the pyramid at the base are seven hundred 
and fifty-five feet long (that is, about a block and three quarters, 
counting twelve city blocks to a mile), and the building was 
nearly five hundred feet high. An ancient story tells us that a 
hundred thousand men were working on this royal tomb for twenty 
years (see frontispiece). 

31. Length and Date of the Pyramid Age. From the summit 
of the Great Pyramid there is a grand view southward, down 
a long line of pyramids rising dimly as far as one can see on the 
southern horizon. Each pyramid was a royal tomb, and each 
such tomb therefore means that a king lived, ruled, and died. 
The line is over sixty miles long, and its oldest pyramids represent 
the first great age of Egyptian civilization after the land was 
united under one king.^ We may call it the Pyramid Age, and 
it lasted about five hundred years — from about 3000 until after 
2500 B.C. "' 

32. Government in the Pyramid Age. Such a great piece of 
work as a pyramid shows the immense progress of the Egyptians 
in government . We perceive at once that it must have required a 
very skillful ruler and a great body of officials to manage and to 
feed a hundred thousand workmen around the Great Pyramid. 
The king who controlled such vast undertakings was no longer 
a local chieftain (§ 19), but he now ruled a united Egypt, the 
earliest great unified nation, having several millions of people. 
He had his local officials collecting taxes all over Egypt. It was 
also their business to try all cases at law wherever they arose, and 
every judge had before him the written law which bade him judge 
justly. Even those accused of treason received proper trials. 

1 Before this, little kingdoms scattered up and down the valley had long existed but 
were finally united into one kingdom, under a single king. The first king to establish 
this union permanently was Menes, who united Egypt under his rule about 3400 b.c. 



The Story of Egypt 23 

The king's huge central offices, occupying low sun-baked brick 
buildings, sheltered an army of clerks with their reed pens and 
their rolls of papyrus (§ 22), keeping the king's records and 
accounts. The taxes received from the people here were not paid 
in money, for coined money did not yet exist. Such payments 
were made in produce : grain, live stock, wine, honey, linen, and 
the like. 

33. The Royal City. The villas (Fig. 10) of the officials who 
assisted the king in all this business of government, with their 
gardens, formed a large part of the royal city. The chief quarter, 
however, was occupied by the palace of the king and the luxurious 
parks and gardens which surrounded it. Thus the palace and its 
grounds, the official villas, and the offices of the government made 
up the capital of Egypt, the royal city which once extended along 
the foot of the Gizeh pyramid cemetery and stretched far away 
southward over the valley plain. It was later called Memphis. 
But the city was all built of sun-baked brick and wood, and it 
has therefore vanished. 

34. Earliest Seagoing Ships. In the Pyramid Age the Pharaoh, 
as the ruler was called, was powerful enough to seek wealth be- 
yond the boundaries of Egypt. A few surviving blocks from a 
fallen pyramid-temple ( Fig. 1 1 ) south of Gizeh bear carved and 
painted reliefs showing us the ships which he ventured to send 
beyond the shelter of the Nile mouths far across the end of the 
Mediterranean to the coast of Phoenicia (see map, p. 42). This 
was in the middle of the twenty-eighth century b.c, and this 
relief contains the oldest known picture of a seagoing ship (see 
Ancient Times, Fig. 41). Yet at that time the Pharaoh had 
already been carrying on such over-sea commerce for centuries. 

35. Agriculture, Cattle-raising, and Beasts of Burden. A 
stroll among the tombs clustering so thickly around the pyramids 
of Gizeh (frontispiece) is almost like a walk among the busy com- 
munities of this populous valley in the days of the pyramid- 
builders, for the stone walls are often covered from floor to ceiling 
with carved scenes, beautifully painted, picturing the daily life on 
the great estate of which the buried noble had been lord (Figs. 8 



24 



History oj Europe 



and 9). The tallest form in all these scenes on the walls is that 
of the dead noble. He stands looking out over his fields and 
inspecting the work going on there (Fig. 8). These fields where 
the oxen draw the plow and the sowers scatter the seed are the 
oldest scene of agriculture known to us. Here too are the herds, 

long lines of sleek fat 
cattle. While they graze 
in the pasture, the milch 
cows are led up and tied 
to be milked. These 
cattle are also beasts of 
burden ; we have noticed 
the oxen drawing the 
plow, and the donkey 
too is everywhere, for it 
would be difficult to har- 
vest the grain without 
him. But we find no 
horses in these tombs of 
the Pyramid Age, for 
the horse was then un- 
known to the Egyptian. 
36. The Coppersmith. 
On the next wall we find 
again the tall figure of 
the noble overseeing the 
booths and yards where 
the craftsmen of his 
estate are working. Yonder is the smith. This man could make 
excellent copper^ tools of all sorts. The tool which demanded 
the greatest skill was the long, fiat ripsaw, which the smith knew 







Fig. 8. Relief Scene from the Chapel 

OF A Prominent Noble's Tomb in the 

Pyramid Age 

The tall figure of the noble stands at the right. 
A piece has fallen out of the wall, imme- 
diately before his face and figure. He is in- 
specting three rows of cattle and a row of fowl 
brought before him. Note the two scribes who 
head the two middle rows. Each is writing 
with a pen on a sheet of papyrus, and one car- 
ries two pens behind his ear. Such reliefs 
after being carved were colored in bright 
hues by the painter (see § 43) 



1 Before the end of the Pyramid Age the coppersmiths had learned how to harden 
their tools by melting a small amount of tin with the copper. This produced a mixture 
of tin (usually not more than lo per cent) and coppes, called bronze, which is much 
harder than copper. It is not yet certain where the first tin was obtained, or who "made 
the first bronze, but it may have come from the north side of the Mediterranean (Ancient 
Times, § 336). 



The Story of Egypt 25 

how to hammer into shape out of a broad strip of copper 
sometimes five or six feet long. Such a saw may be seen in use 
in Fig. 9. 

37. The Lapidary, Goldsmith, and Jeweler. On the same wall 
we find the lapidary holding up for the noble's admiration splendid 
stone bowls cut from diorite. Although this kind of stone is as 
hard as steel, the bowl is ground to such thinness that the sun- 
light glows through its dark-gray sides. The booth of the gold- 
smith is filled with workmen and apprentices weighing gold and 
costly stones, hammering and casting, soldering and fitting to- 
gether richly wrought jewelry which can hardly be surpassed by 
the best goldsmiths and jewelers of to-day (see Ancient Times, 
frontispiece and Fig. 47). 

38. The Potter's Wheel and Furnace : Earliest Glass. In the 
next space on this wall we find the potter no longer building up 
his jars and bowls with his fingers alone, as in the Stone Age. 
He now sits before a small horizontal wheel, upon which he deftly 
shapes the vessel as it whirls round and round under his fingers. 
When the soft clay vessels are ready, they are no longer unevenly 
burned in an open fire, as among the Late Stone Age potters in 
the Swiss lake-villages (Fig. 6), but in closed furnaces. 

Here we also find the craftsmen making glass. This art the 
Egyptians had discovered centuries earlier. They spread the 
glass on tiles in gorgeous glazes for adorning house and palace 
walls (see Ancient Times, plate, p. 164). Later they learned 
to make charming many-colored glass bottles and vases, which 
were widely exported. 

39. Weavers and Paper-makers. Yonder the weaving women 
draw forth from the loom a gossamer fabric of linen. The 
picture on this wall could not tell us of its fineness, but for- 
tunately pieces of such material have survived, wrapped around 
the mummy of a king of this age. These specimens of royal 
linen are so fine that it requires a magnifying glass to distinguish 
them from silk, and the best work of the modern machine loom 
is coarse in comparison with this fabric of the ancient Egyptian 
hand loom. 



26 



History of Europe 



In the next space on the wall we find huge bundles of papyrus 
reeds, which barelegged men are gathering along the edge of 
the Nile marsh. These reeds furnish piles of pale-yellow paper in 
long sheets ( § 22). The ships which we have followed on the 
Mediterranean will add bales of this Nile paper to their cargoes 
and carry it to the European world. 

40. Shipbuilders, Carpenters, and Cabinetmakers. We seem 
almost to hear the hubbub of hammers and mauls as we approach 
the next section of wall, where we find the shipbuilders and 



3 ^£:=xx::ijj 



md as£E» 



it 




Fig. 9. Cabinetmakers in the Pyramid Age 

At the left a man is cutting with a chisel which he taps with a mallet ; next, 
a man " rips " a board with a copper saw ; next, two men are finishing off a 
couch ; and at the right a man is drilling a hole with a bow-drill. Scene from 
the chapel of a noble's tomb. Compare a finished chair belonging to a wealthy 

noble of the Empire (Fig. 19) 

carpenters. Here is a long line of curving hulls, with work- 
men swarming over them like ants, fitting together the earliest 
seagoing ships. Beside them are the busy cabinetmakers (Fig. 9), 
fashioning luxurious furniture for the noble's villa (Fig. 10). 
The finished chairs and couches for the king or the rich are over- 
laid with gold and silver, or inlaid with ebony and ivory, and 
upholstered with soft leathern cushions (Fig. 19). 

41. Traffic in Goods ; Circulation of Precious Metals. Here 
on the wall is a picture of the market place. We can watch the 
cobbler offering the baker a pair of sandals as payment for a 
cake, or the carpenter's wife giving the fisherman a little wooden 
box to pay for a fish. We see therefore that the people have 
no coined money to use, and that in the market place trade is 



The Story of Egypt 



27 



actual exchange of goods, commonly called barter, or traffic. 
Such was the business of the common people. If we could see the 
large transactions in the palace, we should find there heavy rings of 




Fig. 10. Villa of ax Egyptian T>Joble 

The garden is inclosed with a high wall. There are pools on either side 
as one enters, and a long arbor extends down the middle. The house at 
the rear, embowered in trees, is crowned by a roof garden shaded with 

awnings of tapestry 

gold of a Standard weight, which circulated like money. Rings 
of copper also served the same purpose. Such rings were the 
forerunners of the earliest coins (Fig. 36). 



28 



History of Europe 



42. Three Classes of Society in the Pyramid Age. These 
people in the market place painted on the chapel wall are the 
common folk of Egypt in the Pyramid Age. Some of them were 
Jree men, following their own business or industry. Others were 
slaves, working the fields on the great estates. Neither of these 






















Fjg. II. Court of a Pyramid-Temple containing the Earliest 
Known Colonnades (Twenty-eighth Century b.c.) 

Notice the pyramid rising behind the temple (just as in frontispiece also). The 
center of the court is open to the sky ; the roof of the porch all around is 
supported on columns, the earliest known in the history of architecture. 
From such Egyptian colonnaded courts those of later Europe were copied 
(see Fig. 60). Each column represents a palm tree, the capital being the 
crown of foliage. Thirteen hundred feet of copper piping, the earliest known 
plumbing, was installed in this building 

humble classes owned any land. Over them were the landowners, 
the Pharaoh and his great lords and officials, like the owner of 
this tomb (Fig. 8). 

43. Life and Art in the Pyramid Age. Here on this chapel 
wall again we see its owner seated at ease in his palanquin, borne 
upon the shoulders of slaves. He is returning from the inspection 
of his estate, where we have been following him. His bearers 
carry him into the shady garden before his house (Fig. 10), where 



The Story of Egypt 29 

they set down the palanquin and cease their song. This garden 
is the noble's paradise. Here he may recline for an hour of 
leisure with his family and friends, playing at draughts, listen- 
ing to the music of harp, pipe, and lute, watching his women in 
the slow and stately dances of the time, while his children are 
sporting about among the arbors, splashing in the pool as they 
chase the fish, playing with ball, doll, and jumping jack, or teas- 
ing the tame monkey, which takes refuge under their father's 
ivory-legged stool. 

The portrait sculptor was the greatest artist of this age. His 
statues were carved in stone or wood and colored in the hues of 
life ; the eyes were inlaid with rock crystal, and they still shine 
with the gleam of life (Fig. 13). More lifelike portraits have 
never been produced by any age, although they are the earliest 
portraits in the history of art. Such statues of the kings are often 
superb (Fig. 12). They were set up in the Pharaoh's pyramid 
temple (frontispiece and Fig. 11). In size the most remarkable 
statue of the Pyramid Age is the Great Sphinx, which stands 
here in this cemetery of Gizeh. The head is a portrait of Khafre, 
the king who built the second pyramid of Gizeh (see frontispiece), 
and was carved from a promontory of rock which overlooked the 
royal city. It is the largest portrait ever wrought. (On architec- 
ture see Fig. 11.) 

III. The Feudal Age 

44. The Barons of the Feudal Age. The Pyramid Age lasted 
until after 2500 b.c. (see § 31). It was not the end of civilization 
on the Nile ; other great periods were to follow. Along the palm- 
fringed shores far away to the south we shall find the buildings, 
tombs, and monuments which will tell us of two more great ages 
on the Nile — the Feudal Age and the Empire. We board a Nile 
boat and steam steadily southward. As we scan the scarred and 
weatherworn cliffs we discover many a tomb-door cut in the face 
of the cliff and leading to tomb-chapels excavated in the rock. 

These cliff-tombs looking down upon the river belonged to 
the Feudal Age of Egyptian history. The men buried in these 



30 History of Europe 

tombs succeeded in gaining greater power than their ancestors. 
They were granted lands by the king under arrangements which 
in later Europe we call feudal (Chap. XXIV). They were thus 
powerful barons, living like kings on their broad estates, made 
up of the fertile fields upon which these tomb-doors now look 
down. This Feudal Age lasted for several centuries and was 
flourishing by 2000 b.c. 

45. The Libraries of the Feudal Barons. We know more 
about this Feudal Age because some of its books have escaped 
destruction. Fragments from the libraries of these feudal barons — 
the oldest libraries in the world — have fortunately been dis- 
covered in their tombs. These oldest of all surviving books are 
in the form of rolls of papyrus. Here are the most ancient story- 
books in the world : tales of wanderings and adventures in Asia ; 
tales of shipwreck at the gate of the unknown ocean beyond the 
Red Sea — the earliest "Sindbad the Sailor" (see a page from 
this story in Ancient Times, Fig. 58) ; and tales of wonders 
wrought by ancient wise men and magicians. Some of these 
stories set forth the sufferings of the poor and the humble and 
seek to stir the rulers to be just and kind in their treatment of 
the weaker classes. 

Very few papyrus rolls were needed to deal with the science 
of this time. The largest and the most valuable of all contained 
what they had learned about medicine and the organs of the 
human body. This oldest medical book, when unrolled, is to-day 
about sixty-six feet long and has recipes for all sorts of ailments. 
Some of them are still good and call for remedies which, like 
castor oil, are still in common use ; others represent the ailment 
as due to demons, which were long believed to be the cause of 
disease. There are also rolls containing the simpler rules of 
arithmetic, based on the decimal system which we stil) use ; others 
treat the beginnings of geometry and elementary algebra. 

46. Pharaoh's Commerce by Sea. While conditions at home 
made great progress, at the same time these rulers of the Feudal 
Age reached out by sea for the wealth of other lands. Their 
fleets sailed over among the ^gean islands and probably 





w 






-a 

'3 


o 




« H 


c 


^ 








pq 




4) 


O V 






-r-H 


~.M 


o 




u 


C/3 -^ 


w 




o >- 


4) -^ 


^ 


M 


o 2. 


<U >» 




< 




o > 


CO 


Q 


-1-' M 


< 
>< 

o 


< 






p:; 


PM 


u 
&§ 


? ^ 


< 


W 






v 


Pi 1) 


*J -M 


o 


H 




« 

P-^ 




5?; 


C 41 


-<-> 








W 




«1 ^ 


■s u 


K 




c 


'^ -S 






(u -a 


■" J^ 


CO 




« 0) 


to li 

3 


c5 




Oh C 


o 


h 






to 


Pi 
w 



t— 1 

;=) 
pq 


K 






6 


u o 






fe 


— >, 4) 




<J 


u 


C "73 


O *3 

u .5 

'-' c 
to -L 

° 1) 


o 


«1' 


2 " 

'-' c 


I? 


Pi 


D S 


W 






to fe 

C — 


o 


Q 




■? 3 




O 

u 

w 

C/2 


CO 


tu "O 

■M o 


Pi 




M 1) 


P be 


O 




<u 


4: (U 


f^' 


fa 


.S .c 


■g bO 


t-H 


U 


-a "a 


"^ 


, 




C JJ 


o 




5 & 


-^ 










(^ 




fXH b' 


42 <= 




Fig. 14. The Colossal Columns of the Nave in the Great 

Hall of Karnak 

These are .the columns of the middle two rows in the nave (Fig. 16). 

The human figures below show by contrast the vast dimensions of the 

columns towering above them (§ 50) 



The Story of Egypt 31 

controlled the large island of Crete (§§ 123-125). They dug a 
canal from the north end of the Red Sea westward to the nearest 
branch of the Nile in the eastern Delta (see map, p. 42). The 
Pharaoh's Mediterranean ships could sail up the easternmost 
mouth of the Nile, then enter the canal and, passing eastward 
through it, reach the Red Sea. Thus the ^Mediterranean and the 
Red Sea were first connected by this predecessor of the Suez 
Canal four thousand years ago. The power and prosperity of 
the Feudal Age did much to prepare Egypt to rule other nations, 
as mistress of a great empire. 

IV. The Empire 

47. Monuments of Thebes and Arrival of the Horse in Egypt. 

The monuments along the river banks have thus far told us 
the story of two of the three periods, or ages,^ into which 
the career of this great Nile people falls. After we have left the 
tombs of the Feudal Age and have continued our journey over 
four hundred miles southward from Cairo, all at once we catch 
glimpses of vast masses of stone masonry and lines of tall columns 
rising among the palms on the east side of the river. They are 
the ruins of the once great city of Thebes, which will tell us 
the story of the third period, the Empire. 

Here we find not only a vast cemetery but also great temples 
(see plan, Ancient Times, p. 81). A walk around the colossal 
temple of Karnak- at Thebes is as instructive to us in studying 
the Empire as we have found the Gizeh cemetery to be in studying 
the Pyramid Age. We find the walls of this immense temple 
covered with enormous sculptures in relief, depicting the wars 
of the Egyptians in Asia. We see the giant figure of the Pharaoh 
as he stands in his war chariot, scattering the enemy before his 
plunging horses. The Pharaohs of the Pyramid Age had never 
seen a horse (§35), and this is the first time we have met the 

1 These three ages are (i) Pyramid Age, about 3000-2500 b.c. (pp. 20-29) ; (2) Feudal 
Age, flourishing 2000 B.C. (pp. 29-31); (3) the Empire, about 15S0-1150 B.C. (pp. 31-37). 

2 A view of the great Kamak temple taken from an aeroplane will be found in Ancient 
Times, Fig. 64. Kamak is the name of a tiny modem village near the great temple. 



32 



History of Europe 




horse on the ancient monuments. After the close of the Feudal 
Age this animal began to be imported from Asia ; the chariot, the 
first wheeled vehicle in Africa, came with him, and Egypt learned 

warfare on a scale unknown before. 

48. The Empire (i58o-ii50 B.C.). The 
Pharaohs were now great generals with a 
well-organized standing army. With these 
forces the Pharaohs conquered an empire 
which extended from the Euphrates in 
Asia to the Fourth Cataract of the Nile in 
Africa (see map, I, p. 58). By an empire 
in ancient times we mean a group of 
nations subdued and ruled over by some 
more powerful nation. When government 
first arose, it began with tiny city-states 
independent of each other (see Ancient 
Times, § 38). Then a group of such 
city-states would gradually unite into a 
nation ; but the organization of men had 
now reached the point where many nations 
were combined into an empire, including 
a large part of the early oriental world. 
The Egyptian Empire, during which the 
Pharaohs were really emperors, lasted from 
the early sixteenth century to the twelfth 
century B.C. — somewhat over four hun- 
dred years. 

49. Campaigns of Thutmose III. Dur- 
ing all this period the greatest of these 
emperors as a soldier and leader was 
Thutmose III ( Fig. 15). This Napoleon of 
Egypt, as we may call him, ruled for over 
fifty years, beginning about 1500 b.c. He 

was the first great general in history. On the temple walls at Kar- 
nak we can read the story of nearly twenty years of warfare, dur- 
ing which Thutmose crushed the cities and kingdoms of Western 



Fig. 15. Portrait of 
THE Napoleon of 
Ancient Egypt, Thut- 
mose III (Fifteenth 
Century b.c.) 

Carved in granite and 
showing the great con- 
queror (§ 49) wearing 
the tall crown of Upper 
Egypt, with the sacred 
asp forming a serpent- 
crest above his forehead. 
Such portraits in the Em- 
pire can be compared 
with the actual faces of 
these Egyptian emperors 
as we have them in their 
mummies (Fig. 20), and 
they are thus shown to 
be good likenesses. See 
Ancient Times, Fig. 63 



The Story of Egypt 



33 



Asia and united them into an enduring empire. At the same time 
he gave great attention to sea power. He built the first great 
navy in history. His war fleet carried his power even to the 
^gean Sea, and one of his generals became governor of the 
JEgean islands. 

V. The Higher Life of the Empire and its Fall 

50. The Empire Temples. The wealth which the Pharaohs 
captured in Asia and Nubia during the Empire brought them 




Fig. 1 6. Restoration of the Great Hall of Karnak, Anxiext 
Thebes — Largest Building of the Egyptian Empire 

With the weahh taken in Asia the Egyptian conquerors of the Empire enabled 
their architects to build the greatest colonnaded hall ever erected by man. 
It is three hundred and thirty-eight feet wide and one hundred and seventy 
feet deep, furnishing a floor area about equal to that of the cathedral of 
Notre Dame in Paris, although this is only a single room of the temple. 
There are one hundred and thirty-six columns in sixteen rows. See 

Ancient Times, Fig. 271 

power and magnificence unknown to the world before. All this 
was especially shown in their vast and splendid buildings. A 
new period in the history of art and architecture began. The 
temple of Karnak, which we have visited, contains the greatest 
colonnaded hall ever erected hy man. The columns of the central 
aisle (Fig. 16) are sixty-nine feet high. The vast capital forming 
the summit of each column is large enough to contain a group 
of a hundred men standing crowded upon it at the same time. 



34 History oj Europe 

European architects later borrowed many ideas from these build- 
ings of Egypt {Ancient Times, Fig. 271), 

Such temples as these at Thebes were seen through the deep 
green of clustering palms, among towering obelisks and colossal 
statues of the Pharaohs (Fig. 17). The whole was bright with 
color, flashing at many a point with gold and silver. Mirrored 
in the unruffled surface of the temple lake, it made a picture 
of such splendor as the ancient world had never seen before. 
Thus grew up at Thebes the first great "monumental city" 
ever built by man.^ 

51. Painting and Sculpture in the Temples. Much of the 
grandeur of Egyptian architecture was due to the sculptor and 
the painter. The colonnades, with flower capitals, were colored 
to suggest the plants they represented. The vast battle scenes, 
carved on the temple wall, were painted in bright colors. The 
portrait statues of the Pharaohs, set up before these temples, were 
often so large that they rose above the towers of the temple 
front itself, — the tallest part of the building, — and they could 
be seen for miles around (Figs. 17 and 18). The sculptors could 
cut these colossal figures from a single block, although they were 
sometimes eighty or ninety feet high and weighed as much as a 
thousand tons. This is a burden equal to a great transcontinental 
train of eleven steel sleeping cars each weighing ninety tons. 
Unlike the train, however, the statue was not cut up into smaller 
units, but had to be handled as a single vast burden. Neverthe- 
less, the engineers of the Empire moved many such gigantic 
figures for hundreds of miles.- It is in works of this massive, 
monumental character that the art of Egypt excelled. 

52. Life and Art of the Empire. Just as at Gizeh, so the 
cemetery at Thebes tells much of the life of the times which pro- 
duced it. In the majestic western cliffs (Fig. 17) are cut hundreds 
of tomb-chapels belonging to the great men of the Empire. Here 
were buried the able generals who marched with the Pharaohs on 

1 City plans which treat a whole city as a symmetrical and harmonious unit are now 
beginning to be made in America. 

2 On the moving of such great burdens, see Ancient Times, Fig. 6i. 




o 

a 

o 
o 



m 

W 

M 
W 

K 

H 

H 






c 

•4-* 



o 



1) 
H 

E 

+-» 

.5 
o 

O 



O 



a;.S 



00 rt 

2. >-• 



1) 
o 
c 
o 

o 

'2. 

1) 



o 









o 

2 £ 

t— I rt 

< o 



■"^ <u 
i-i a 
2 « 

'S ?S "" 
•> o I 

oj CO D 



-o c 

G ■ 



CO 

C/2 



H 

o 

PL, 



c 

> 

1) 



<1J 



-4-» 

G 
O 

C 

OS 

biD 






OS 



4) 



•S .2 

O ^ 

I T 

'*J CI 

a, Lo 

O COT 

M ■ — - 
.S f> 

&^-^ 

SH 

to >J-i 

u O 
OJ >> 



« 



u 



3 S 
SO 1) 




Fig. 1 8. Colossal Portrait Figure of Ramses II at Abu Simbel 

IN Egyptian Nubia 

Four such statues, seventy-five feet high, adorn the front of this temple. 
They are better preserved than those in Fig. 17, and show us that such vast 
figures were portraits. The face of Ramses II here really resembles that 
of his mummy. Grand view of the Nubian Nile, on which the statues have 
looked down for thirty-two hundred years (see § 50). View taken from the 
top of the crown of one of the statues. (Photograph by The University of 

Chicago Expedition) 



The Story of Egypt 



3S 



their campaigns in Asia and in Nubia. Here lay the gifted artists 
and architects who built the vast monuments we have just visited. 
Here in these tomb-chapels we may read their names and often 
long accounts of their lives. Here, for example, is the story of 
the general who saved Thutmose Ill's life in a great elephant 
hunt in Asia by rushing 
in and cutting off the 
trunk of an enraged ele- 
phant which was pursu- 
ing the king. 

These tombs are won- 
derful treasuries of Egyp- 
tian art, for the very 
furniture which these 
great men used in their 
houses was put into 
their tombs. Many beau- 
tiful things, like chairs 
covered with gold and 
silver and provided with 
soft cushions of leather 
(Fig. 19), bedsteads of 
sumptuous craftsman- 
ship, jewel boxes and per- 
fume caskets of the ladies, 
or even the gold-covered 
chariot in which the 
Theban noble took his 
afternoon airing thirty- 
three or thirty-four hundred years ago, have been found in these 
tombs. They may now be seen in the National Museum at Cairo, 

53. Religion of the Empire. These tombs show us also how 
much farther the Egyptian had advanced in religion since the 
days of the pyramids of Gizeh. Each of these great men buried 
in the Theban cemetery looked forward to a judgment in the 
next world, where Osiris (§28) was the great judge and king. 




Fig. 19. Armchair from the House of 
AN Egyptian Noble of the Empire 

This chair with other furniture from his house 
was placed in his tomb at Thebes in the early 
part of the fourteenth century B.C. There it 
remained for nearly thirty-three hundred years, 
till it was discovered in 1905 and removed to 
the National Museum at Cairo (§ 52) 



36 



History of Europe 



Every good man might rise from the dead as Osiris had done, 
but in the presence of Osiris he would be obliged to see his soul 
weighed in the balances over against the symbol of truth and 
justice. The dead man's friends put into his coffin a roll of 
papyrus containing prayers and magic charms intended to aid 
him in the hereafter. This magical guidebook of the hereafter, 
with its varied contents, we now call the " Book of the Dead." 

Some of the leading 
Egyptians of the Empire 
finally gained the belief in 
a single god to the exclusion 
of all others. Such a belief 
we call monotheism (see 
§ 112). Ikhnaton, the most 
unique of their kings, en- 
deavored to make this be- 
lief in one god the religion 
of the whole Empire, but 
the opposition of the priests 
and the people was too 
strong, and he perished in 
the attempt. 

54. Decline and Fall 
of the Egyptian Empire 
(1150 B.C.). Serious religious conflicts at home had thus greatly 
weakened Egypt by the middle of the fourteenth century (1350) 
B.C. After it had recovered itself somewhat, the great Pharaohs 
Seti I (Fig. 20) and his son Ramses II (Fig. 18) partially re- 
stored the old splendor. Their two reigns covered almost a century 
(ending about 1225 b.c). They fought great wars in Asia, but 
they were unable to restore the Empire to its former extent and 
power. Their most powerful enemies were at first the Hittites of 
Asia Minor (§§ 128 and 129). 

Then more dangerous foes arose. We find them pictured in the 
temple reliefs, and it is interesting to discover that these new enemies 
are many of them Europeans from the northern Mediterranean 




Fig. 20. Body of Seti I as he lies 

IN HIS Coffin in the National 

Museum at Cairo 



The Story of Egypt 37 

lands, where we left them (§ 12) in the Late Stone Age. These 
northerners finally entered Egypt in such numbers after 1200 B.C. 
that the weakened Egyptian Empire fell (about 11 50 B.C.). 
Egypt never again recovered her old power and leadership. 

55. Summary of the Story of Egypt. Thus ends the story 
of the Empire at Thebes. Our visit to Egypt has told us the story 
of how man passed from Stone Age barbarism to a civilization pos- 
sessed of metal, writing, and government (pp. 14-20). The pyra- 
mids, tombs, and temples along the Nile have told us the history 
of civilized Egypt in three epochs : the pyramids of Gizeh and the 
neighboring cemeteries of Memphis have told us about the Pyra- 
mid Age (pp. 20-29) ; the cliff-tombs, which we found on the Nile 
voyage, have revealed the history of the Feudal Age (pp. 29-31) ; 
and the temples and cliff-tombs of Thebes have given us the story 
of the Empire (pp. 31-37). Thus the Nile has become for us a 
book of history, with its introduction giving us the rise of civiliza- 
tion, continued in three great chapters. 

We should remember, moreover, that the three great chapters 
did not end the story ; for Egyptian institutions and civilization 
continued far down into the Christian Age and greatly influenced 
later history in Europe (§§379 and 418). 

56. Decipherment of Egyptian. Finally, our Nile voyage has 
also shown us how we gain knowledge of ancient men and their 
deeds from the monuments and records which they have left 
behind. We have also noticed how greatly the use of the earliest 
written documents aids us in putting together the story. If we 
had made our journey up the Nile a hundred years ago, however, 
we should have had no one to tell us what these Egyptian records 
meant. For the last man who could read Egyptian hieroglyphs 
died over a thousand years ago. A hundred years ago, therefore, 
no one understood the curious writing which travelers found 
covering the great monuments along the Nile. It was not until 
1822 that the ability to read Egyptian hieroglyphics was recovered. 
In that year a young French scholar named Champollion an- 
nounced that he had learned how to read Egyptian writing.^ Thus 

1 An account of Champollion's great feat will be found in Ancient Times, pp. 96-98. 



38 History of Europe 

the monuments of the Nile gained a voice and have told us their 
wonderful story of man's conquest of civilization. 

57. Transition to Asia. In a similar way the monuments dis- 
covered along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Asia have been 
deciphered and made to tell their story. They show us that, fol- 
lowing the Egyptians, the peoples of Asia emerged from barbarism, 
gained industries, learned the use of metals, devised a system of 
writing, and finally rose to the leading position of power in the 
ancient world. We must therefore turn, in the next chapter, to 
the story of the early Orient in Asia. 



QUESTIONS 

I. Where is Egypt ? What are the shape and character of the 
country ? What is the adjoining country like ? How did the Stone 
Age Egyptians live ? How did they originate writing ? writing mate- 
rials ? Describe the origin of the calendar. Whence came our calendar ? 
Describe the probable manner of the discovery of copper. 

n. What was a pyramid used for ? Explain the chief gods of Egypt. 
What kinds of tombs preceded the pyramids ? In what century did 
most of this progress fall ? Describe the Great Pyramid. Give the date 
and length of the Pyramid Age. Date and describe the earliest known 
seagoing ships. Write an account of the industries and the social 
life of the Pyramid Age. Describe its art. 

III. How does the Nile voyage continue the story of the Egyp- 
tians ? Give an account of the feudal barons. What kind of progress 
was being made ? 

IV. Through what ages has the voyage up the Nile carried us ? 
Give the date and extent of the Egyptian Empire. Who was its 
greatest conqueror ? 

V. Describe the great buildings of the Empire. Describe the paint- 
ing and sculpture in the Empire temples. Give an account of the 
cemetery at Thebes. What does it reveal of Egyptian civilization ? 
Did Egyptian civilization continue after the fall of the Empire ? 



CHAPTER III 
WESTERN ASIA : BABYLONIA, ASSYRIA, AND CHALDEA 

I. The Lands and Races of Western Asia 

58. Geography of Western Asia. The westernmost portions 
of Asia are bounded by the Caspian and Black seas on the north, 
the Mediterranean and the Red Sea on the west, and the Indian 
Ocean and the Persian Gulf on the south and east. It is a region 
consisting chiefly of mountains on the north and desert on the 
south. The earliest home of men in Western Asia was the border- 
land between the desert and mountains and also between desert 
and sea, — the fertile fringe of the desert, shaped like a crescent, 
having the mountains on one side and the desert on the other. 
(See map, p. 42.) 

This fertile crescent is approximately a semicircle, with the 
open side toward the south, having the west end at the southeast 
corner of the Mediterranean, the center directly north of Arabia, 
and the east end at the north end of the Persian Gulf. At the 
western end is Palestine, Assyria makes up a large part of the 
center, while at the eastern end is Babylonia. This great semi- 
circle, for lack of a name, we shall refer to as the Fertile Crescent.^ 

After the meager winter rains large portions of the northern 
desert are covered with scanty grass, and spring thus turns the 
region for a short time into grasslands. The history of Western 
Asia may be described as an age-long struggle between the moun- 
tain peoples of the north and the desert wanderers of these grass- 
lands for the possession of the Fertile Crescent. We shall first 
consider the invasions of the Fertile Crescent by the peoples of 
the desert. 

1 There is no general name, either geographical or political, which includes all of 
this great semicircle (see map, p. 42). Hence we are obliged to coin a term and call it 
the " Fertile Crescent." 

39 



40 History of Europe 

59. The Arabian Desert and the Semitic Nomads. Arabia 
is totally lacking in rivers and enjoys but a few weeks of rain 
in midwinter ; hence it is a desert very little of which is habitable. 
Its people are and have been from the remotest ages a great white 
race called Semites, made up of many peoples and tribes. With 
two of the Semitic peoples we are familiar, — the Arabs and the 
Hebrews (many of whose descendants dwell among us). They all 
spoke and still speak slightly differing dialects of the same tongue. 
Hebrew was one of these dialects. For ages they have moved up 
and down the habitable portions of the Arabian world, seeking 
pasturage for their flocks and herds. Such wandering herdsmen 
are called nomads} 

From the earliest times, when the spring grass of the northern 
wilderness has gone, the nomads have been tempted to drift from 
the sandy waste into the Fertile Crescent. If they could secure 
a fitting place to live there, they slowly made the change from 
the wandering life of the desert nomad to the settled life of the 
agricultural peasant. We can follow this process going on for 
thousands of years. Among such movements we are familiar with 
one important example, — the passage of the Hebrews from the 
desert into Palestine, as described in the Bible ; and we shall later 
learn of £t much more extensive example (Chapter XXII), the 
invasions of the Arab hosts of Islam, which even reached Europe. 
But it took many centuries for the long line of Semitic settlements 
to creep slowly westward along the north coast of Africa until 
it reached the Atlantic, and we must begin with the Semites in 
the desert. 

60. Life of the Semitic Nomads. Out on the wide reaches 
of the desert there were no boundaries. The pasturage was as free 
as air to the first comer. No man of the tribe owned land. The 
wandering herdsmen possessed only scanty, movable property, 
chiefly flocks and herds. They knew no law ; they were unable 
to write. They were practically without industries, and thus the 
desert tribesmen led a life of unhampered freedom. Their needs 
obliged them to traffic now and then in the towns, and these desert 

1 On the origin of nomads see Ancient Times, §§ 35-36. 



Western Asia : Babylonia, Assyria, and Chaldea 41 

wanderers often became the common carriers of the settled com- 
munities, fearlessly leading their caravans across the wastes of 
the desert-bay, especially between Syria-Palestine and Babylonia. 
The wilderness was the nomad's home. His imagination peopled 
the far reaches of the desert with invisible and hostile creatures, 
who inhabited every rock and tree, hilltop and spring. These 
creatures became his gods. He believed that each one of these 
beings controlled only a little corner of the desert ; thus such a 
being became the nomads' tribal god. The thoughts of the desert 
wanderers about their god were crude and barbarous, and their 
religious customs were often savage, leading them to sacrifice 
not only their animals but even their children to appease the 
angry god. On the other hand, the nomads had a dawning sense 
of justice and of right. Such feelings at last became lofty moral 
vision, which made the Semites the religious teachers of the 
civilized world. At the same time these Semites had practical 
gifts, especially in business, which made them the greatest mer- 
chants of the ancient world, as their Hebrew descendants among 
us still are at the present day. 

61. The Western Semites on the West End of the Fertile 
Crescent. As early as 3000 b.c. they were drifting in from the 
desert and settling in Palestine, on the western end of the Fertile 
Crescent, where we find them in possession of walled towns by 
2500 B.C. Here they were the predecessors of the Hebrews, and 
were called Canaanites ; farther north settled a powerful tribe 
known as Amorites. Later came the Arameans, who grew to be the 
greatest merchants throughout Western Asia.^ Along the Mediter- 
ranean shores of north Syria some of these one-time desert wan- 
derers took to the sea and became the Phoenicians. By 2000 b.c. 
all these settled communities of the Semites were in possession of 
much 'Uown civilization," drawn for the most part from Egypt 
and Babylonia. 

62. The East End of the Fertile Crescent. At the same time 
we can watch similar movements of the nomads at the eastern 

1 On the remarkable achievements of the Arameans, especially how they spread the 
alphabet, see Ancient Times, §§ 203-208. 



42 History of Europe 

end of the Fertile Crescent, along the lower course of the Tigris 
and Euphrates, which we shall often speak of as the " Two Rivers." 
They rise in the northern mountains (see map, p. 42), whence 
they issue to cross the Fertile Crescent and to cut obliquely south- 
eastward through the northern bay of the desert (§58). On these 
two great rivers of Western Asia developed the earliest civilization 
anywhere known in Asia. Just as on the Nile, so here on the Two 
Rivers we shall tmd three great chapters in the story. 

63. The Plain of Shinar (or Babylonia). As on the Nile, so 
also in Tigris-Euphrates history the earliest of the three chapters 
will be found in the lower valley near the rivers' mouths. This 
earliest chapter is the story of Babylonia.^ As the Two Rivers 
approach most closely to each other, about one hundred and 
sixty or seventy miles from the Persian Gulf,-' they emerge from 
the desert and enter a low plain of fertile soil, formerly brought 
down by the rivers. This plain, lying at the eastern end of the 
Fertile Crescent, is best known as Babylonia. But during the 
first thousand years of its known history, the city of Babylon, 
from which it was afterward named, either did not yet e.xist or 
was only an insignificant village (§69). 

This plain was originally called Shinar. It was rarely more 
than forty miles wide and contained probably less than eight 
thousand square miles of cultivable soil — roughly equal to the 
area of New Jersey. It lies in the Mediterranean belt of rainy 
winter and dry summer, but the rainfall is so scanty (less than 
three inches a year) that irrigation of the fields is required in 
order to ripen the grain. When properly irrigated the Plain of 
Shinar is prodigiously fertile, and the chief source of wealth in 
ancient Shinar was agriculture. This plain was the scene of the 
most important and long-continued of those frequent struggles 
between the mountaineer and the nomad, of which we have spoken. 

1 The other two chapters of Tigris-Euphrates history were Assyria and the Chaldean 
Empire. 

2 This was the distance in ancient Babyloftian and Assyrian times. But the rivers 
have since then filled up the Persian Gulf for one hundred and fifty to sixty miles (see 
note under scale on map, p. .^2, and see map, Ancient Times, p. io6). 



Western Asia : Babylonia, Assyria, and Chaldea 43 

II. The Earliest Babylonians and the 
Rise of Civilization in Asia 

64. Sumerian Mountaineers in Shinar and their Civilization. 
We can find no relationship in race between the mountaineers 
and the Semitic nomads of the Arabian desert. We find the 
mountaineers shown on monuments of stone as having shaven 
heads and wearing heavy woolen kilts, and we know that they 
were a white race called Sumerians. Long before 3000 B.C. they 
had entered the Plain of Shinar and had reclaimed the marshes 
aroimd the mouths of the Two Rivers.. The southern section of 
the Plain of Shinar therefore came to be called Sumer, after the 
Sumerians. 

Their settlements of low mud-brick huts soon crept northward 
along the Euphrates. Gradually they learned to dig irrigation 
trenches and to reap large harvests of barley and wheat. They 
already possessed cattle, sheep, and goats. The ox drew the plow ; 
the donkey pulled wheeled carts and chariots, and the wheel as a 
burden-bearing device appeared here for the first time.^ But the 
horse was still unknown. The smith had learned to fashion 
utensils of copper, but he did not at first know how to harden 
the copper into bronze by an admixture of tin (p. 24,n. i). 

Trade and government led these people to make records, 
scratched in rude pictures with the tip of a reed on a flat piece 
of soft clay. Speed in writing simplified these pictures into 
groups of wedge-shaped marks, once the lines of the picture 
(Fig. 21). Hence these signs are called cuneiform, meaning 
" wedge- form," writing (Latin cuneus, "wedge''). This writing 
was phonetic, but did not possess alphabetic signs. 

The Sumerian system of numerals was not based on tens, but 
had the unit sixty as a basis. A large number was given as so 
many sixties, just as we employ a score (fourscore, fivescore). 
From this unit of sixty has descended our division of the circle 
(six sixties) and of the hour and minute. 

1 Probably earlier than the wheel in the Swiss lake-villages of the Late Stone 
Age (§ 10). 



44 



History of Europe 



65. The Sumerian Temple-Towers, Houses, and Towns. 

Almost in the center of the Plain of Shinar rose a tall tower. It 
was of sun-dried brick, for there was no stone in all Babylonia. 




Fig. 21. Early Sumerian Clay Tablet with Cuneiform, or 
Wedge- Form, Writing (Twenty-eighth Century b.c.) 

This tablet was written toward the close of the early period of the city-kings 
(§ 66), a generation before the accession of Sargon I (§ 67). It contains 
business accounts. The scribe's writing-reed, or stylus, was usually square- 
tipped. He pressed a corner of this square tip into the soft clay for each line 
of the picture sign. Lines so produced tended to be broad at one end and 
pointed at the other, that is, wedge-shaped. Each picture sign thus became 
a group of wedges, as shown in Ancient Times, Fig. 80. When the clay dried 
it was hard enough to make the tablet a fairly permanent record. Such 
tablets were sometimes baked and thus became as hard as pottery. 
(By permission of Dr. Hussey) 

It was the dwelling of Enlil, the great Sumerian god of the air. 
The tower served as an artificial mountain, probably built in 
memory of some ancient temple on a hilltop in the former moun- 
tain home of the Sumerians. Similar towers became common in 



Western Asia : Babylonia, Assyria, and Chaldea 45 




the Plain of Shinar, and it was such a temple-tower in Babylon 
which later gave rise to the story of the " Tower of Babel " among 
the Hebrews. The Sumerian temple-tower was the ancestor of 
our church steeple {Ancient Times, Fig. 272). 

Around the temple extended the houses of the townspeople. 
They were bare rectangular dwellings of sun-dried brick (Fig. 22). 
The towns were small and to-day are mounds of earth and 
crumbled sun-dried brick, in which lie buried the clay-tablet 
records of the ancient community which once lived there. When 
we dig out such a 
mound we therefore 
find it a rich storehouse 
of things which tell us 
much about ancient 
Babylonian civilization 
(see Ancient Times, 
§§ 158-160, and Figs. 
83, 84). 

66. Sumerian City- 
Kingdoms of about 
3050-2750 B.C. These 

clay tablets tell us about a class of free, landholding citizens 
working their lands with slaves and trading with caravans and 
small boats up and down the river. Over both these classes, free 
and slave, there was a numerous body of officials and priests — 
the aristocrats of the town. They were ruled, along with all the 
rest, by a priest-king. Such a community owned the fields for 
a few miles round about the town. The whole, that is, the town and 
its fields, formed a city-kingdom. Sumer as a whole consisted of 
a number of such small city-kingdoms, and this earliest Sumerian 
period may be called the Age of the City-Kingdoms. These little 
states were more skilled in war than the Egyptians and were con- 
stantly fighting each with its neighbors. These struggles among 
themselves so seriously weakened the Sumerians that in spite of 
their better organization and discipline they found it hard to 
cope with the incoming Semites of the desert. 



Fig. 22. Restoration of ax Early 
Babylonian House. (After Koldewey) 



46 History of Europe 

67. Sargon of Akkad — Earliest Semitic Supremacy (about 
2750 B.C.). The Semitic tribesmen from the desert had early 
begun to migrate into the Plain of Shinar, north of Sumer. By 
the middle of the twenty-eighth century b.c. they had established 
a kingdom there known as Akkad. This region comprised the 
narrow strip of land where the Two Rivers approach each other 
most closely (see map, p. 42). The men of Akkad, or Akkadians, 
under a bold and able leader named Sargon, descended the 
Euphrates and conquered the Sumerians. Thus arose the first 
Semitic kingdom of importance in history, and Sargon I, its 
founder (2750 b.c), is the first great name in the history of the 
Semitic race. 

68. The Semitic Akkadians adopt Sumerian Civilization. 
Sargon's conquests forced his nomad tribesmen (the Akkadians) 
to make a complete change in their manner of life. We may best 
picture the change if we say that they forsook their desert tents 
and built houses of sun-dried brick (Fig. 22), which could not be 
picked up every morning and set up somewhere else at night. At 
first they did not even know how to write, and they had no in- 
dustries. Some of them now learned to write their Semitic tongue 
by using the Sumerian wedge-form signs for the purpose. Then it 
was, therefore, that a Semitic language began to be written for 
the first time. The Akkadians likewise learned Sumerian art, es- 
pecially sculpture (Fig. 23), in which they far surpassed their 
Sumerian teachers. Thus the Akkadians took over and adapted 
the civilization of the Sumerians whom they had conquered. 

III. The Age of Hammurapi and After 

69. Hammurapi— the Second Semitic Supremacy. Cen- 
turies of struggle between the Sumerians and Semites ensued. 
Not long before 2200 b.c. a tribe of Amorites (§61) came in 
from the west and seized the little town of Babylon. Ham- 
murapi, one of their later kings, fought for thirty years and 
conquered all Babylonia (about 2100 b.c). Again the desert 
won, as this second great Semitic ruler, Hammurapi, raised 




Fig. 23. A King of Akkad storming a Fortress — the Earliest 
Great Semitic Work of Art (about 2700 b.c.) 

King Naram-Sin of Akkad, one of the successors of Sargon I (§ 67), has 
pursued the enemy into a mountain stronghold. His heroic figure towers 
above his pygmy enemies, each one of whom has fixed his eyes on the con- 
queror, awaiting his signal of mercy. The sculptor, with fine insight, has 
depicted the dramatic instant when the king lowers his weapon as the sign 
that he grants the conquered their lives 



48 



History of Europe 



Babylon, thus far a small and unimportant town, to be the leading 
city in the Plain of Shinar. Beginning with Hammurapi we may 
more properly call the plain "Babylonia." 

Hammurapi brought in order and 
system where before all had been 
confusion. He collected all the 
older laws and customs of busi- 
ness, legal, and social life and is- 
sued these in a great code of laws. 
He had these laws engraved upon 
a stone shaft, which has survived 
to our day, the oldest preserved 
code of ancient law (Fig. 24). On 
the whole it is a surprisingly just 
code and shows much consideration 
for the poor and defenseless classes. 
70. Expansion of Babylonian 
Commerce. Thus regulated, Baby- 
lonia prospered as never before. 
Her merchants penetrated far and 
wide into the surrounding coun- 
tries. The Babylonian writing of 
the clay-tablet bills ( Fig. 2 1 ) which 
accompanied the heavily loaded 
caravans had to be read by many a 

* A shaft of stone (diorite), nearly eight 
feet high, on which the laws are engraved. 
They extend entirely around the shaft, 
occupying over thirty-six hundred lines. 
Above is a fine relief showing King Ham- 
murapi standing at the left, receiving the 
laws from the Sun-god seated at the right. 
The flames rising from the god's shoulders 
indicate who he is. The flames on the left 
shoulder are commonly shown in the cur- 
rent textbooks as part of a staff in the god's 
left hand. This is an error. This scene is 
impressive work of Semitic art, six 




Fig. 24. The Laws of Ham- 
murapi, THE Oldest Surviv- 
ing Code of Laws (2100 b. c.)* 



an 



hundred years later than Fig. 23. 



Western Asia : Babylonia, Assyria, and Chaldea 49 

merchant in the towns of Syria and behind the northern moun- 
tains. Thus the wedge-writing of Babylonia gradually spread 
through Western Asia. There was as yet no coined money, but 
lumps of silver of a given weight circulated so commonly (p. 67) 
that values were given in weight of silver. Loans were common, 
and the rate of interest was twenty per cent. Business was the 
chief occupation and was carried on even in the temples. 

71. Higher Life of Babylonia. A journey through Babylonia 
to-day could not tell us such a story as we found among the monu- 
ments on our voyage up the Nile, for the Babylon of Hammurapi 
has perished utterly. There seems to have been no painting ; the 
sculpture of the Semites is in one instance (Fig. 23) powerful 
and dramatic, but the portrait sculptor was scarcely able to make 
one individual different from another. Of architecture little re- 
mains. There were no colonnades and no columns. The main 
lines were all straight verticals and horizontals, but the arch was 
used over front doorways (Fig. 22). All buildings were of brick, 
as Babylonia had no stone. The beautiful gem-cutting of the 
Babylonians, as we find it in their seals, was their greatest art 
(see Ancient Times, Fig. 106,^). There were schools where boys 
could learn to write cuneiform, and a schoolhouse of Hammurapi's 
time still survives, though in ruins {Ancient Times, Fig. 95). 

72. Stagnation of Babylonian Civilization. After Ham- 
murapi's death his kingdom swiftly declined. Barbarians from 
the mountains poured into the Babylonian plain. The most im- 
portant thing about them was that they brought with them the 
horse, which then appeared for the first time in Babylonia (twenty- 
first century B.C.). They divided and soon destroyed the king- 
dom of Hammurapi. After him there followed more than a 
thousand years of complete stagnation in Babylonia. Progress in 
civilization entirely stopped, and there was no revival until the 
triumph of the Chaldeans (pp. 56-58). 

73. Summary of Early Babylonian History. As we look 
back over this first chapter of early human progress along the Two 
Rivers, we see that it lasted about a thousand years, beginning 
a generation or two before 3000 B.C. The Sumerian mountaineers 



50 History of Europe 

laid the foundations of civilization in Shinar and began a 
thousand-year struggle with the Semites of the desert. The Sem- 
ites triumphed twice under two great leaders, Sargon (2750 b.c.) 
and Hammurapi (2100 B.C.). The Sumerians then disap- 
peared, and the language of Babylonia became Semitic. The 
reign of Hammurapi marked the highest point and the end of 
the thousand-year development — the conclusion of the first great 
chapter of history along the Two Rivers. 

IV. The Assyrian Empire (about 750 to 606 b.c.) 

74. The Beginnings of Assur. The second chapter of history 
along the Two Rivers carries us up the river valley from Babylonia 
to the northeast corner of the desert (see map, p. 42). In this 
region, as early as 3000 B.C., a tribe of desert Semites had founded 
a little city-kingdom called Assur. This is the earliest form of 
our word "Assyria." Assur was an upland country with many 
fertile valleys and an agricultural population. In climate it was 
cooler and more invigorating than the hot Babylonian plain. 

The Assyrians spoke a Semitic dialect (§ 59) differing only 
very slightly from that of Babylonia. Having given up their 
wanderings as herdsmen, they learned town life from the Su- 
merians, and received their earliest civilization from Sumer. Hence 
they learned to write their language with Babylonian cuneiform 
signs (Fig, 21). They were constantly obliged to defend their 
frontiers against both their own kindred of the desert on one 
side and the mountaineers on the other. Thus the Assyrians were 
toughened by the strain of frequent wars. 

75. Foundation of the Assyrian Empire, Eighth Century B.C. 
Gradually the Assyrians conquered much additional territory 
all around their formerly small city-kingdom. By iioo B.C. 
their peasant militia had beaten the western kings in Syria, where 
the Egyptian Empire had fallen two generations earlier (§54). 
There Assyrian soldiers for the first time saw the Mediterranean. 
Although often repulsed, Assyria had firmly established herself 
along the Mediterranean by the middle of the eighth century b. c. 
She had also subdued Babylonia, so that the Assyrian Empire 



Western Asia : Babylonia, Assyria, and Chaldea 51 

finally held the entire Fertile Crescent, and the mountains on 
the north of it, almost to the Black and the Caspian seas. It 
conquered even Egypt (in 670 B.C.) and held it for a short time. 




Fig. 25. Restoration of the Palace of Sargon II of Assyria 

(722-705 B.C.) 

The city (GGG) was inclosed by a wall {HH) and was a mile square, with 
room for eighty thousand people. The palace building, covering twenty-five 
acres, stood partly inside and partly outside of the city wall [HH) on a 
vast elevated platform [CCCC) of brick masonry, to which an inclined road- 
way {B) and stairways (^4) rise from the inside of the city wall. The king 
could thus drive up in his chariot from the streets of the city below (GGG) 
to the palace pavement above (CCCC). The rooms and halls are clustered 
about a number of courts {£F) open to the sky. The main entrance (Z>, 
with stairs {A ) before it leading down to the city) is adorned with massive 
towers and arched doorways built of richly colored glazed brick and embel- 
lished with huge human-headed bulls and reliefs like Fig. 26, all carved of 
alabaster. The pyramidal tower (/) behind the great court was inherited 
from Babylonia (§ 65). A better view of such a tower will be found in Ancient 
Times, p. 170. It was a sacred dwelling-place of the god, and his temple (with 
two others) stands just at the foot of the tower on the left (A') 

Thus the once feeble little city of Assur gained the lordship over 
Western Asia, as head of an empire : a great group of conquered 
and vassal nations (§48). It was the most extensive empire the 
world had thus far seen (see map, II, in Ancient Times, p. 188). 



5 2 History of Europe 

76. Sargon II of Assyria (722-705 B.C.)- In 722 B.C. one 
of the leading Assyrian generals usurped the throne, and as king 
he took the name of Sargon, the first great Semite of Babylonia, 
who had reigned two thousand years earlier (§67). As Sargon II 
he raised Assyria to the height of her grandeur and power as a 
military empire. His descendants were the great emperors of 
Assyria.^ On the northeast of Nineveh (§77) he built a new royal 
residence (Fig. 25) on a vaster scale and more magnificent than 
any Asia had ever seen before. Babylonia in her greatest days 
had never possessed a capital like this. 

77. Sennacherib (705-68I B.C.) ; Nineveh, the Capital. The 
grandeur of Sargon II was even surpassed by his son Sennacherib, 
one of the great statesmen pf the early Orient. He devoted him- 
self to the city of Nineveh, north of Assur, and it now became the 
far-famed capital of Assyria. Along the Tigris the vast palaces 
(like Fig. 25) and imposing temple-towers of the Assyrian em- 
perors arose, reign after reign. The lofty and massive walls of 
Nineveh which Sennacherib built stretched two miles and a half 
along the banks of the Tigris, marked at the present day by a 
great group of mounds {Ancient Times, Fig. 203). Here in his 
gorgeous palace he ruled the Western Asiatic world with an iron 
hand and collected tribute from all the subject peoples. 

78. Organization of the Assyrian Empire. To maintain the 
army was the chief work of the Assyrian State. The State was 
therefore a vast military machine, more terrible than any mankind 
had ever yet seen. We shall understand this situation if we 
imagine that our war department were the central office in Wash- 
ington, and that our government should devote itself chiefly to 
supporting it. 

79. The Assyrian Army and Military Equipment. An im- 
portant new fact aided in bringing about this result. From the 
Hittites (see map, p. 42) iron had been introduced among the 

1 The leading Assyrian emperors of the dynasty of Sargon II are as follows: 

Sargon II 722-705 b. c. 

Sennacherib , yo^-tiSi k.c. 

Esarhaddon 6Si-668b.c. 

Assurbanipal (called Sardanapalus by the Greeks) 668-626 b. c. 



Western Asia : Babylonia, Assyria, and Chaldea 53 

Assyrians'. The Assyrian forces were therefore the first large 
armies equipped with weapons of iron. A single arsenal room 
of Sargon II's palace was found to contain two hundred tons of 
iron implements. 

The bulk of the Assyrian army was composed of archers, sup- 
ported by heavy-armed spearmen and shield bearers. Besides 
these, the famous horsemen and chariotry of Nineveh became the 
scourge of the East (Fig. 26) . For the first time, too, the Assyrians 
employed powerful siege machinery, especially the battering- 
ram. This machine was the earliest " tank," for it ran on wheels 
and carried armed men (see Ancient Times, p. 140). The sun- 
dried-brick walls of the Asiatic cities could thus be battered down, 




Mii^amwBmmmitamima 
Fig. 26. An Assyrian King hunting Lions 



and no fortified place could long repulse the assaults of the fierce 
Assyrian infantry. The Assyrian soldiers, moreover, displayed a 
certain inborn ferocity which held all Western Asia in abject 
terror. Wherever the terrible Assyrian armies swept through the 
land, they left a trail of ruin and desolation behind, and there 
were few towns of the Empire which escaped being plundered. 

80. Civilization of the Assyrian Empire. While this plun- 
dered wealth was necessary for the support of the army, it also 
served higher purposes. As we have seen, the Assyrian palaces 
. were now imposing buildings, suggesting by their size and splendor 
UL the far-reaching power of their builders. In the hands of the 
Assyrian architects the arch, inherited from Babylonia, for the 



54 History of Europe 

first time became an imposing monumental feature of architec- 
ture. The impressive triple arches of the Assyrian palace en- 
trance (Fig. 25, D) were the ancestor of the Roman triumphal 
arches. They were faced with glazed brick in gorgeous colors, and 
on either side were vast human-headed bulls wrought in alabaster. 
Thus the architects of the Assyrian emperors produced the first 
magnificent monumental buildings that appeared in Asia. 

Within the palace were hundreds of feet of pictures cut in 
alabaster (see Fig. 26). They display especially the great deeds 
of the emperor in war and hunting wild beasts. The human figures 
are monotonously alike — hard, cold, and unfeeling. Nowhere is 
there a human form which shows any trace of feeling, either joy 
or sorrow, pleasure or pain. The Assyrian sculptor's wild beasts, 
however, are sometimes magnificent in the animal ferocity which 
they display (see Ancient Times, Fig. 106, B). 

81. Assurbanipal's Library. Assurbanipal, grandson of Sen- 
nacherib, and the last great Assyrian emperor, boasted that his 
father had instructed him not only in riding and shooting with 
bow and arrow but also in writing on clay tablets and in all the 
wisdom of his time. A great collection of twenty-two thousand 
clay tablets was discovered in Assurbanipal's fallen library rooms 
at Nineveh, where they had been lying on the floor covered with 
rubbish for twenty-five hundred years. They are now in the 
British Museum (see Ancient Times, Fig. 109). In this library 
the religious, scientific, and literary works of past ages had been 
systematically collected by the emperor's orders. They formed 
the earliest library known in Asia. 

82. Economic and Agricultural Decline. Like many later 
rulers, however, the Assyrian emperors made a profound mis- 
take in their method of governing their empire. The industries 
were destroyed and the farms left idle in order to supply men for 
a great standing army. Even so, the Empire had grown so large 
that the army was unable to defend it. As reports of foreign in- 
vasions and new revolts came in, the harassed ruler at Nineveh 
forced the subjects of his foreign vassal kingdoms to enter the 
army. With an army made up to a dangerous extent of such 



Western Asia : Babylonia, Assyria, and Chaldea 55 

foreigners, with the commerce of the country also in the hands of 
foreigners, with no industries, and with fields lying idle, — under 
these conditions the Assyrian nation fast lost its inner strength. 

83. Fall of Assyria; Destruction of Nineveh (eoeB.c.)- 
In addition to such weakness within, there were the most threaten- 
ing dangers from without. These came, as of old, from both sides 
of the Fertile Crescent. Especially dangerous was a desert tribe 
whom we know as the Chaldeans. They had been for centuries 
creeping slowly around the head of the Persian Gulf and settling 
along its shores at the foot of the eastern mountains. The Chal- 
deans mastered Babylonia and then assailed the walls of Nineveh. 

Weakened by a generation of decline within, and struggling 
vainly against assaults from without, the mighty city of the 
Assyrian emperors fell (606 B.C.). In the voice of the Hebrew 
prophet Nahum (ii, 8, 13, and iii entire) we hear an echo of the 
exulting shout which resounded from the Caspian to the Nile as 
the nations discovered that the terrible scourge of the East had 
at last been laid low. Its fall was forever, and when two centuries 
later Xenophon and his ten thousand Greeks marched past the 
place (§237) the Assyrian nation was but a vague tradition, 
and Nineveh, its great city, was a vast heap of rubbish, as it is to- 
day (see Ancient Times, Fig. 203). The second great chapter of 
history on the Two Rivers was ended, having lasted but a scant 
century and a half (about 750 to 606 B.C.). 

84. Summary of Progress by the Assyrian Empire. The Em- 
pire of Assyria had greatly altered the nations of Western Asia. 
The rule of a single sovereign had been forced upon the whole great 
group of nations around the eastern end of the Mediterranean, 
and the methods of organizing such an empire had been much 
improved, leading over to the much greater Persian Empire which 
was built up (pp. 64-65) sixty years after the fall of Assyria. 
In spite of its often ferocious harshness, the Assyrian rule had 
furthered civilization. We have seen that the building of the 
magnificent palaces in and near Nineveh formed the first chapter 
in great architecture in Asia. At the same time Nineveh also 
possessed the first libraries as yet known there. 



56 History of Europe 

V. The Chaldean Empire : the Last Semitic Empire 

85. Rise of the Chaldean Empire (606B.c.)- After the fall 
of Assyria the brief career of the Chaldean Empire formed the 
third great chapter of history on the Two Rivers.^ The Chaldeans 
made their capital at Babylon and gave their name to the land, 
so that we now know it as Chaldea. They were the last Semitic 
lords of Babylonia in ancient times. 

86. Reign of Nebuchadnezzar (604-56i B.C.). At Babylon, 
Nebuchadnezzar, the greatest of the Chaldean emperors, began 
a reign of over forty years, — a reign of such power and magnifi- 
cence, especially as narrated in the Bible, that he has become one 
of the great figures of oriental history. It was he who carried 
away many Hebrews from Palestine to Babylonia as captives and 
destroyed Jerusalem, their capital (586 b.c). 

Copying much from Assyria, Nebuchadnezzar was able to sur- 
pass even his Assyrian predecessors in the splendor of the great 
buildings which he now erected at Babylon (see plan. Ancient 
Times, p. 165). High over all towered the temple-mount which 
rose by the temple of their greatest god, Marduk, — a real "Tower 
of Babel" (see § 65). Masses of rich tropical verdure, rising in 
terrace above terrace, crowned the roof of the gorgeous imperial 
palace, forming lofty roof gardens. Here in the ^cool shade of 
palms and ferns the great king might enjoy his idle hours, looking 
down upon the splendors of his city. These roof gardens were 
the mysterious ''Hanging Gardens" of Babylon, whose fame 
spread far into the West, until they were numbered by the Greeks 
among the Seven Wonders of the World. The city was immensely 
extended by Nebuchadnezzar, and enormous fortified walls were 
built to protect it. It was this Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar which 

1 The three great chapters of history on the Two Rivers are : 

1. Early Babylonia (thirty-first century to twenty-first century B.C.; Sargon I 
about 2750 B.C., Hammurapi about 2100 B.C.). See pp. 43-50. 

2. The .\ssyrian Empire (about 750 to 606 B.C.). See pp. 51-55. 

3. The Chaldean Empire (about 606 to 539 b.c). See pp. 56-5S. 

With the exception of parts of the first, these three epochs were periods of Semitic 
power. To these we might in later times add 3i fourth period of Semitic supremacy, the 
triumph of Islam in the seventh century of our era, after the death of Mohammed 
(pp. 323-329). 



Western Asia : Babylonia, Assyria, and Chaldea 57 

has become familiar to all Christian peoples as the great city of 
the Hebrew captivity (§§ iio-iii). So little survives of all the 
glories which made it world-renowned_ in its time (see tailpiece, 
p. 77) that nearly twenty years of excavation have recovered 
almost no standing buildings. 

87. Civilization of Chaldean Babylon. The Chaldeans seem 
to have adopted the civilization of Babylonia in much the same 
way as other earlier Semitic invaders of this ancient plain (§ 68). 
Science made notable progress in one important branch — astron- 
omy. This was really at that time only what we call " astrology," 
namely, a study of the movements of the heavenly bodies with a 
view of forecasting the future. But it was now very systematically 
pursued and was slowly becoming astronomy. The equator was 
divided into 360 degrees, and for the first time the Chaldean 
astrologers laid out the twelve groups of stars which we call the 
"Twelve Signs of the Zodiac." Thus the sky and its worlds 
began to be mapped out. 

The five planets then known (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, 
and Saturn) were regarded as the powers especially controlling 
the fortunes of men, and as such the five leading Babylonian 
divinities were identified with these five heavenly bodies. The 
names of these Babylonian divinities have therefore descended 
to us as the names of the planets. But on their way to us 
through Europe the ancient Babylonian divine names were trans- 
lated into Roman forms. So the planet of Ishtar, the goddess of 
love, became Venus, while that of Marduk, the great god of 
Babylon, became Jupiter, and so on. The celestial observations 
made by these Chaldean ''astrologers," as we call them, slowly 
became sufficiently accurate so that the observers could already 
foretell an eclipse. These observations when inherited by the 
Greeks formed the basis of the science of astronomy, which the 
Greeks carried so much further (§ 178). The practice of astrology 
has survived to our own day ; we still unconsciously recall it in 
such phrases as " his lucky star " or " an ill-starred undertaking." 

88. Decline of the Old Oriental Lands. The reign of Nebu- 
chadnezzar was the high-water mark of Chaldean civilization. 



58 History of Europe 

After his death (561 B.C.) the old civilized lands of the Orient 
seem to have lost most of their former power to go forward and 
to make fresh discoveries and new conquests in civilization, such 
as they -had been making during three great ages on the Nile and 
three similar ages on the Two Rivers. Indeed, the leadership of 
the Semitic peoples in the early world was drawing near its close, 
and they were about to give way before the advance of new 
peoples of the Indo-European race (pp. 59-62). The nomads of 
the southern desert were about to yield to the hardy Indo- 
European peoples of the northern and eastern mountains, and to 
these we must now turn. 

QUESTIONS 

I. Summarize the history of the Fertile Crescent. Describe the 
nomads' life ; their religion. Describe the Babylonian plain, giving 
size, climate, and products. 

II. Describe Sumerian civilization. Tell about the earliest Semites 
in Babylonia and their first great leader. How did these Semites gain 
civilization ; for example, writing ? 

III. Who was Hammurapi ? Give an account of his laws. Describe 
Babylonian commerce in his age. How can we summarize Babylonian 
history ? 

IV. Locate Assyria on the Fertile Crescent. Whence did its people 
receive their civilization ? What did the Assyrian Empire at its largest 
chiefly include ? Give some account of Assyrian civilization. Outline 
the causes of the fall of Assyria. 

V. Who were the Chaldeans ? Describe Chaldean Babylon ; rz chief 
buildings. Discuss Chaldean astronomy. 

Note. Huge winged bulls, like this one below, with human head were set up to 
adorn the entrances of Assyrian palaces (Fig. 25, D). They were carved in alabaster. 




CHAPTER IV 

WESTERN ASIA: THE MEDO-PERSIAN EMPIRE AND 

THE HEBREWS 

I. The Indo-European Peoples and their 
Dispersion ^ 

89. The Northern Grasslands. We have seen that the Arabian 
desert has been a great reservoir of unsettled peoples, who were 
continually leaving the grasslands on the margin of the desert 
and shifting over into the towns to begin a settled life (§ 59). 
Corresponding to these grasslands of the South, there are similar 
grasslands in the North (Fig. 27). These Northern grasslands 
stretch from the lower Danube eastward along the north side of the 
Black Sea through southern Russia and far into Asia north and 
east of the Caspian. In ancient times they always had a wandering 
shepherd population ; and time after time, for thousands of years, 
these Northern nomads have poured forth over Europe and West- 
ern Asia, just as the desert Semites of the South have done over 
the Fertile Crescent (§ 59). 

90. The Two Lines — Indo-European and Semitic. These 
nomads of the North were from the earliest times a great white 
race, the ancestors of the present peoples of Europe (and since 
our forefathers came from Europe, these same nomads were also 
our own ancestors). These nomads of the Northern grasslands, 
from whom most Americans have sprung, began to migrate in very 
ancient times, moving out along diverging routes. They at last 
extended in an imposing line from the frontiers of India on the 

1 Pages 59-62 should be carefully worked over by the teacher with the class before 
the class is permitted to study this section alone. The diagram (Fig. 27) should be put 
on the blackboard and explained in detail by the teacher, and the class should then be 
prepared to put the diagram on the board from memory. This should be done again 
when the study of the Greeks is begun (§ 131), and a third time when Italy and the 
Romans are taken up. 

59 



6o History of Europe 

east, westward across all Europe to the Atlantic, as they do to-day 
(Fig. 27). They are called, therefore, the Indo-European race. 
This great northern Indo-European line was confronted on the 
south by a similar line of Semitic peoples, extending from Baby- 
lonia on the east, through Phoenicia and the Hebrews westward 
along North Africa to Carthage and similar Semitic settlements 
of Phoenicia in the western Mediterranean (§ 59). 

The history of the ancient world, as we are now to follow it, 
was often centered in the struggle between this southern Semitic 
line which issued from the Southern grasslands and the northern 
Indo-European line which came forth from the Northern grass- 
lands. The result of the long conflict was the complete triumph 
of our ancestors, the Indo-European line, which conquered along 
the center and both wings and gained the leadership throughout 
the Mediterranean world under the Greeks and Romans (Chapters 
V to XVII). 

91. The Indo-European Parent People and its Dispersion. 
It is probable that the original home of the Indo-European people 
was on the great grassy steppe in the region east and northeast of 
the Caspian Sea. Here, then, probably lived the parent people of 
all the later Indo-European race. Before they dispersed, probably 
about 2500 B.C., the parent people were still in the Stone Age for 
the most part, though copper was beginning to come in. Divided 
into numerous tribes, they wandered at will, seeking pasture for 
their flocks, for they already possessed domestic animals, including 
cattle and sheep. But chief among their domesticated beasts was 
the horse, which, as we recall, was still entirely unknown to the 
civilized oriental nations until after Hammurapi's time (see § 72), 
They employed him both for riding and for drawing wheeled 
carts. Some of the tribes had adopted a settled life and cultivated 
grain, especially barley. Being wi1#)ut writing, they possessed 
little government and organization. But they were the most gifted 
and the most highly imaginative people of the ancient world. 

As their tribes wandered farther and farther apart they lost 
contact with each other. While they all at first spoke the same 
language, differences in speech gradually arose and finally became 




R! 






N 


>4_, .— 








o-a 


."^^ 






,- c 








W 1—4 








OS jil 


s 








a 






<» 








c 








.iS 






- 


'm 








t^ 








4) 








fL, 








.<3 








« s 




„-^ 




-n ^ 


>3 


.^ 




^ t* 


5; 


■>^ 






"s 


1. 





pa: 



»-l (1h 



^E 



'C .2 to 

03 (fl C 

X.2 



'-■O.S 



w 



.« TT 



-= S '^ '=' 




oj <u JJ r::: 



4-j 
o 

o 

V 



be 

OS 

3 



(U 



U 43 
1-. <u _ 



hjo-- 

o ° 



*J ^> 1^ 

:^ ^ ^ 

— H-> o 



S -= 
(J 



o 



w r^ -M 
O 

« tn O 



6 

O 
V 

"a, 
o 

V 



1) 

H 



" c c 

D O 03 

O O (U T3 

•j2 >- a o 

O V ? ° 

^ ^ 3 ^ 

-c^ ■ ■" ^ .S 

be <u (u ca o _ 

•s -^ .^ W -^ S 



be: 
c 






to ;:^ 



<u ^ S 






11 



C 

-go 



1^- 

3 be -w oj 

" 1J dj S 

>« be^ S 

o u Ji ^ 

;= - - S 'S 'o^ 

—■■MO (U (U 

0) >^ O 4= 3 -5„ 

-?; be ^ ■" t; ^ 



<u J +3 



0) 3 o 

C^ c« o 

to C 



■S o 






• ^ 03 4^ 'n 



O ^ P M O 

^ .S c/) g H 



Wl^^ 



^ c 
S o 






l-c 

Oh O 



1) 



03 r^ 



O 



I 

ro 

d, 
a, 



M y C/j en 03 0) 



1) o 



t-i 03 ,Q MH ^ 



62 



History of Europe 



so great that the widely scattered tribes, even if they happened 
to meet, could no longer make themselves understood. At last 
they lost all knowledge of their original relationship. But the 
languages of modern civilized Europe, having sprung from the 
same Indo-European parent language, are therefore related to 
each other ; so that, beginning with England in the West and 
going eastward, we can trace more than one common word from 
people to people entirely across Europe into northern India. 
Note the following: 



WEST 

English 

brother 
mother 
father 



German 

bruder 
mutter 
vater 



Latin 

frater 
mater 
pater 



Greek 

phrater 

meter 

pater 



Old Persian 
and AvESTAN 

brata 

matar 

pitar 



TOKHAR 

(in Central Asia) 
pracar 
macar 
pacar 



EAST 

East Indian 
(Sanskrit) 

bhrata 

mata 

pita 



We are now to watch the eastern wing of the vast Indo-Euro- 
pean line as it swings southward and comes into collision with 
the right wing of the Semitic line on the Fertile Crescent. 



II. The Aryan Peoples and the Iranian 
Prophet Zoroaster 

92. The Aryans and their Descendants. The easternmost 
tribes of the Indo-European line, having left the parent people, 
were pasturing their herds in the great steppe on the east of the 
Caspian by about 2000 b.c. Here they formed a people called 
the Aryans^ (see Fig. 27). They had no writing, and they have 
left no monuments. 

When the Aryans broke up, perhaps about 1800 b.c, they 
separated into two groups. The Eastern tribes wandered south- 
eastward and eventually arrived in India. In their sacred books, 

1 The Indo-European parent people apparently had no common name for all their 
tribes as a great group. The term " Aryan " is often popularly applied to the parent 
people, but this custom is incorrect. '■ Aryan " (from which " Iran " and " Iranian " are 
later derivatives) designated a group of tribes, a fragment of the parent people, which 
detached itself and found a home for some centuries just east of the Caspian Sea. The 
Aryans, then, were Eastern descendants of the Indo-European parent people, as we are 
Western descendants of the parent people. The Aryans are our distant cousins but not 
our ancestors. 



Western Asia : The Medo-Persian Empire 63 

which we call the Vedas, written in Sanskrit, there are echoes 
of the days of Aryan unity, and they furnish many a hint of 
the ancient Aryan home on the east of the Caspian. 

The other group, whose tribes kept the name "Aryan" in 
the form "Iran," also left this home and pushed westward and 
southwestward into the mountains bordering the Fertile Crescent. 
We call them Iranians, and among them were two powerful tribes, 
the Medes and the Persians. 

93. The Median (Indo-European) Empire threatens Chal- 
dean (Semitic) Babylonia. By 600 b.c, just after the fall of 

p Assyria ( § 83 ) , the Medes had established a powerful Iranian 
empire in the mountains east of the Tigris. It extended from 

Bthe Persian Gulf, where it included the Persians, northwestward 
in the general line of the mountains to the Black Sea region. The 
front of the Indo-European eastern wing was thus roughly parallel 
with the Tigris at this point, but its advance was not to stop 
here. Nebuchadnezzar (§86) and the Chaldean masters of 
Babylon looked with anxious eyes at this dangerous Median 
power. The Chaldeans on the Euphrates represented the leader- 
ship of men of Semitic blood from the Southern pastures. Their 
leadership was now to be followed by that of men of Indo- 
European blood from the Northern pastures (§90). 

94, The Religion of the Iranians and the Spread of Zoroas- 
trianism. All of these Iranians possessed a beautiful religion in- 
herited from old Aryan days. Somewhere in the eastern mountains, 
perhaps as far back as 1000 B.C., an Iranian named Zoroaster be- 
gan to look out upon the life of men, which he studied in an effort 
to find a new religion fitted to meet the needs of man. He watched 
the ceaseless struggle between Good and Evil which met him 
wherever he turned. The Good became to him a divine person, 
whom he called Mazda, or Ahuramazda, which means "Lord of 
Wisdom," and whom he regarded as God. Ahuramazda was sur- 
rounded by a group of helpers much like angels, of whom one of 
the greatest was the Light, called " Mithras." Opposed to Ahura- 
mazda and his helpers was an evil group led by a great Spirit of 
Evil named Ahriman. It was he who later became the Satan of 
the Jews and Christians. 



64 History of Europe 

Thus the faith of Zoroaster called upon every man to stand on 
one side or the other ; to fill his soul with the Good and the Light 
or to dwell in the Evil and the Darkness. "Whatever course a 
man pursued, he must expect a judgment hereafter. This was the 
earliest appearance in Asia of belief in a last judgment. Zoroaster 
maintained the old Aryan veneration of fire as a visible symbol 
of the Good and the Light. The new faith had gained a firm 
footing before the prophet's .death, and before 700 b.c. it was the 
leading religion among the Medes in the mountains along the 
Fertile Crescent. Thus Zoroaster became the first great founder 
of a noble religious faith. 

95. The Avesta, the Persian Bible. As in the case of 
Mohammed, it is probable that Zoroaster could neither read nor 
write, for the Iranians possessed no system of writing in his day 
(see § 92). Besides a few hymns, fragments of his teaching have 
descended to us in writings put together over a thousand years 
after the prophet's death. They form a book known as the Avesta. 
This we may call the Bible of the Persians. 

III. Rise of the Persian Empire: Cyrus 

96. The Emergence of the Persians. No people became more 
zealous followers of Zoroaster than the group of Iranian tribes 
known as the Persians. At the fall of Nineveh (606 B.C.) (§83) 
they had already been long settled in the region at the south- 
eastern end of the Zagros Mountains, just north of the Persian 
Gulf. Here the Persians occupied a district some four hundred 
miles long. They were a rude mountaineer peasant folk, leading 
a settled agricultural life, with simple institutions, and possessing 
no art, writing, or literature. 

97. Cyrus of Anshan and his Conquests. They acknowledged 
themselves vassals of the Empire of their kinsmen the Medes 
(§93)- One of their tribes dwelling in the mountains of Elam 
(seemap, p. 42) was organized as a little kingdom. About fifty 
years after the fall of Nineveh this little kingdom of Anshan was 
ruled over by a Persian named Cyrus. He succeeded in uniting 



Western Asia : The Medo-Persian Empire 65 

the other tribes of his kindred Persians into a nation. Thereupon 
Cyrus at once rebelled against the rule of the Medes. He gathered 
his peasant soldiery and within three years defeated the Median 
king and made himself master of the Median territory (§93). 
The extraordinary career of Cyrus was now a spectacle upon 
which all eyes in the West were fastened with wonder and alarm. 

With a powerful Persian army Cyrus marched far to the west, 
into Asia Minor, and conquered the kingdom of Lydia. He cap- 
tured its capital, Sardis, and took prisoner its king, the wealthy 
and powerful Croesus (546 B.C.). Within five years the power 
of the little Persian kingdom in the mountains of Elam had 
thus swept across Asia Minor to the Mediterranean and had be- 
come the leading state in the oriental world. Turning eastward 
again, Cyrus had no trouble in defeating the Chaldean army led 
by the young crown prince Belshazzar, whose name in the Book 
of Daniel (see Dan. v) is a household word throughout the 
Christian world. In spite of the vast walls erected by Nebu- 
chadnezzar to protect Babylon (§86), the Persians entered the 
great city in 539 B.C., seemingly without resistance, 

98. Persia Supreme ; Death of Cyrus (528 B.C.). Thus the 
Semitic East completely collapsed before the advance of the Indo- 
European power, only sixty-seven years after the Chaldean con- 
quest of Nineveh ( § 83 ) . Some ten years later Cyrus fell in 
battle (528 B.C.). His body was reverently laid away in a mas- 
sive tomb of impressive simplicity, which still survives (see 
Ancient Times, Fig. 115). Thus passed away the first great con- 
queror of Indo-European blood. 

All Western Asia was now subject to the Persian kings ; then 
in 525 B.C., only three years after the death of Cyrus, his son 
Cambyses conquered Egypt. This conquest of the only remain- 
ing ancient oriental power rounded out the Persian Empire to 
include the whole civilized Orient from the Nile Delta around 
the entire eastern end of the Mediterranean to the ^gean Sea, and 
from this western boundary eastward almost to India (see map, 
IV, p. 58). The great task had consumed just twenty-five years 
since the overthrow of the Medes by Cyrus. 



66 History of Europe 

IV. The Civilization of the Persian Empire 
(about 530 TO 330 B.C.) 

99. Persia absorbs Civilization. The Persians found Babylon 
a great and splendid city, with the vast fortifications and magnifi- 
cent buildings of Nebuchadnezzar visible far across the Baby- 
lonian plain (§86). The city was the center of the commerce of 
Western Asia and the greatest market in the early oriental world. 
Along the Nile, also, the Persian emperors now ruled the splendid 
cities whose colossal monuments we have visited. Such things 
as these, and the civilized life which the Persians found along 
the Nile and the Euphrates, soon influenced them greatly. 

In order to carry on business and government the Persians, 
formerly without writing, soon devised an alphabet, of thirty- 
nine cuneiform signs (§64), which they employed for writing 
Persian on clay tablets. They also used it when they wished to 
make records on large monuments of stone. 

100. Organization of the Persian Empire by Darius. The 
organization of this vast empire, stretching from the Indus River 
to the i^gean Sea (almost as long as the United States from east 
to west) and from the Indian Ocean to the Caspian Sea, was a 
colossal task. Though begun by Cyrus, it was carried through by 
Darius the Great (521-485 B.C.). His organization remains one 
of the most remarkable achievements in the history of the ancient 
Orient, if not of the world. For the system introduced by Darius 
was not only attempting government on a larger scale than the 
world had ever seen before but it was government controlled by 
one man. 

Darius did not desire further conquests, but he planned to 
maintain the Empire as he had inherited it. He caused himself 
to be made actual king in Egypt and in Babylonia, but the 
rest of the Empire he divided into twenty provinces, each called 
a "satrapy." Each such province was under the control of a 
governor called a ''satrap," who was appointed by the "Great 
King," as the Persian sovereign came to be called. The subject 
nations, or provinces, enjoyed a good deal of independence in 



Western Asia : The Medo-Persian Empire 



67 



1^ 



their own local matters as long as they paid regular tribute and 
furnished recruits for the Great King's army. 

In the East this tribute was paid, as of old, in produce (§§ 32 
and 70). In the West, chiefly Lydia and the Greek settlements 
in western Asia Minor, the coinage of metal was common by 
600 B.C. (§ 163), and 
there this tribute was 
paid in coined money. 
Thus the great com- 
mercial convenience 
of coined money is- 
sued by the State 
began to come into 
the Orient during the 
Persian period under 
Darius. 

101. Darius makes 
Persia the Earliest 
Great Sea Power in 
Asia. Nothing shows 
the wise statesman- 
ship of Darius the 
Great more clearly 
than his remarkable 
efforts to make Persia 
a great sea power. 
He sent a skillful 
Mediterranean sailor 
by the name of Scylax 
to explore the course of the great Indus River in India, and 
then to sail along the coast of Asia from the mouth of the 
Indus westward to the Isthmus of Suez. Scylax was the first 
Western sailor who is known to have sailed along this south coast 
of Asia, so little known at that time (about 500 B.C.). At Suez, 
Darius restored the ancient but long filled-up canal of the Egyp- 
tians connecting the Nile with the Red Sea (§46; see Ancient 




Fig. 28. Colonnades of the Persian 
Palace at Persepolis 

This sumptuous and ornate architecture of the 

Persians is made up of patterns borrowed from 

other peoples 



68 History of Europe 

Times, § 271). This gave him a sea route all the way from the 
Persian coast to the Mediterranean. Unlike the Assyrians, Darius 
treated the Phoenician cities with kindness and succeeded in or- 
ganizing a,jreat Phoenician war fleet in the eastern Mediterranean. 
Thus the more enlightened Persian kings accomplished what 
the Assyrian emperors never achieved, and Persia became the 
first great sea power in Asia. From end to end of the vast Em- 
pire the Persian emperors laid out a system of excellent roads, 
on which royal messengers maintained a regular postal system. 

102. Summary of Persian History and Decline of Persia. 
For the oriental world as a whole, Persian rule meant about 
two hundred years of peaceful prosperity (ending about 333 b.c). 
It showed men how a vast group of nations might be forced to 
yield to the power of a single sovereign and to accept his rule 
as if it were a permanent right. Such an enormous empire, ex- 
tending as it did from India to the shores of Europe, at the 
Hellespont, exerted a tremendous influence on Europe, as we 
shall see. The Persian kings, however, as time went on, were 
no longer as strong and skillful as Cyrus and Darius. They 
loved luxury and ease and left much of the task of ruling to 
their governors and officials. This meant corrupt and ineffective 
government ; the result was weakness and decline. 

The later world, especially the Greeks, often represented the 
Persian rulers as cruel and barbarous oriental tyrants. This 
unfavorable opinion is not wholly justified. For there can be no 
doubt that the Persian Empire, the largest the ancient world 
had thus far seen, enjoyed a government far more just and humane 
than any that had preceded it in the East. 

The religious beliefs of the Persians spread among other 
peoples and even into Europe ; but far more important than 
Zoroastrianism for the Western world was the religion of the 
Hebrews. We must therefore now glance briefly at the little 
Hebrew kingdom among the Persian vassals in the West, which 
was destined to influence the history of man more profoundly 
than any of the great empires of the early world. 



Western Asia : The Medo-Persian Empire 69 

V. The Hebrews 

103, Hebrew Invasion of Palestine (about 1400 to 1200 B.C.). 
The Hebrews were all originally men of the Arabian desert/ 
wandering with their flocks and herds. For two centuries, 
beginning about 1400 b.c, they were slowly drifting over into 
their final home in Palestine, along the west end of the Fertile 
Crescent.^ When they entered it the Hebrews were nomad shep- 
herds (see § 59) and possessed very little civilization. A south- 
ern group of their tribes had been slaves in Egypt, but had been 
induced to flee by their heroic leader Moses, a great national 
hero whose achievements they never forgot. He led them out of 
Egypt. 

On entering Palestine the Hebrews found the Canaanites (§61) 
dwelling there in flourishing towns with massive walls. The 
Canaanites had learned from Egypt the manufacture of many 
valuable articles of commerce ; from Babylonia the caravans had 
brought in bills and lists written on clay tablets ( Fig. 21), and 
the Canaanites had thus learned to use Babylonian cuneiform 
writing. The Hebrews settled on the land around the towns of 
the Canaanites and slowly mingled with them until the two 
peoples, Hebrew and Canaanite, had become one. By this process 
the Hebrews gradually adopted the civilization of the Canaanites. 

104. Rise of the Hebrew Kingdom (about 1025 to 930 B.C.). 
Even after the Hebrews had set up a king the old nomad customs 
were still strong ; for Saul, the first king (about 1025 b.c), had 
no fixed home but lived in a tent. His successor, David, saw the 
importance of a strong castle as the king's permanent home. He 
therefore seized the old Canaanite fortress of Jerusalem. From 
Jerusalem as his residence David extended his power far and 
wide and made the Hebrews a strong nation. His people never 
forgot his heroic deeds as a warrior nor his skill as a poet and 

1 The student should here carefully reread the account of the Arabian desert and the 
Semitic nomads — their life, customs, and religion — in §§ 58-60. It was from this desert 
and its life that the Hebrews all originally came. 

2 For an account of Palestine and its people before the Hebrews settled there, see 
Ancient Times, pp. 197-200. 



70 History of Europe 

singer. Centuries later they revered him as the author of many 
of their religious songs or '' psalms," 

105. Solomon and the Division of the Kingdom (about 
930 B.C.). David's son, Solomon, delighted in oriental luxury 
and display. To support his extravagance he weighed down the 
Hebrews with heavy taxes. The discontent was so great that 
when Solomon died the Northern tribes withdrew from the nation 
and set up a king of their own. Thus the Hebrew nation was 
divided into two kingdoms before it was a century old. 

There was much hard feeling between the two Hebrew king- 
doms, and sometimes fighting. Israel, as we call the Northern 
kingdom, was rich and prosperous ; its market places were filled 
with industry and commerce ; its fertile fields produced plentiful 
crops. Israel displayed the wealth and success of town life. On 
the other hand, Judah, the Southern kingdom, was poor ; her 
land was meager. Besides Jerusalem, the capital, she had no 
large and prosperous towns. Many of the people still wandered 
with their flocks. The South thus remained largely nomad. 

These two methods of life came into conflict in many ways, 
but especially in religion. Every old Canaanite town had for 
centuries worshiped its "baal," or lord, as its local god was 
called. These had never died out. The Hebrew townsmen found 
it very natural to worship these gods of their neighbors, the 
Canaanite townsmen. They were thus unfaithful to their old 
Hebrew God Yahveh (or Jehovah ).'^ To some devout Hebrews, 
therefore, and especially to those in the South, the Canaanite gods 
seemed to be the protectors of the wealthy class in the towns, 
with their luxury and their injustice to the poor. On the other 
hand, Yahveh appeared to be the guardian of the simpler shep- 
herd life of the desert, and therefore the protector of the poor 
and needy. 

106. The Unknown Historian, Earliest Writer of History 
(Eighth Century e.g.). Thoughtful Hebrews began to feel the 
injustices of town life. They saw among the rich townsmen 

. 1 The Hebrews pronounced the name of their God " Yahveh." The pronunciation 
" Jehovah " began less than six hundred years ago and was due to a misunderstanding 
of the pronunciation of the word " Yahveh." 



Western Asia : The Medo-Persian Empire 71 

showy clothes, fine houses, beautiful furniture, and cruel hard- 
heartedness toward the poor. These were things which had been 
unknown in the simple nomad life of the desert. Men who chafed 
under such injustices of town life turned fondly back to the grand 
old days of their shepherd wanderings out yonder on the broad 
reaches of the desert, where no man "ground the faces of the 
poor." It was a gifted Hebrew^ of this kind who now put to- 
gether a simple narrative history of the Hebrew forefathers — 
a glorified picture of their shepherd life. He told the immortal 
tales of the Hebrew patriarchs, of Abraham and Isaac, of Jacob 
and Joseph. These tales, preserved to us in the Old Testament, 
are among the noblest literature which has survived from the 
past.^ They are the earliest example of historical writing in 
prose which we possess among any people, and their nameless 
author, whom we might call the Unknown Historian, is the 
earliest historian known in the ancient world. 

107. Amos and the Prophets. Other men were not content 
merely to tell tales of the good old days. Amos, a simple herds- 
man clad in sheepskin, who came from the South, entered the 
towns of the wealthy North and denounced their showy clothes, 
fine houses, beautiful furniture, and above all their corrupt lives 
and hard-heartedness toward the poor, whose lands they seized 
for debt and whose labor they gained by enslaving their fellow 
Hebrews. By such addresses as these Amos, of course, endangered 
his life, but he thus became the first social reformer known in 
Asia. We apply the term '^ prophet " to these great Hebrew lead- 
ers, who pointed out the way toward unselfish living, brotherly 
kindness, and a higher type of religion. 

108. The Hebrews learn to Write. While all this had been 
going on the Hebrews had been learning to write. The peoples 
of Western Asia were now abandoning the clay tablet ( Fig. 2 1 ) 
and beginning to write on papyrus with the Egyptian pen and 
ink. The Hebrews borrowed their alphabet from the Phoenician 

1 Unfortunately we do not know his name, for the Hebrews themselves early lost all 
knowledge of his name and identity and finally associated the surviving fragments of 
his work with the name of Moses. 

2 The student should read these tales, especially Gen. xxiv, xx\'ii, xx\'iii, xxxvii, 
xxxix-xlvii, 12. 



72 History of Europe 

and Aramean merchants (§6i). The rolls containing the Un- 
known Historian's tales of the patriarchs or the teachings of such 
men as Amos were the first books which the Hebrews produced — 
their first literature (see Ancient Times, Fig. 131). But literature 
remained the only art the Hebrews possessed. They had no paint- 
ing, sculpture, or architecture, and if they needed these things 
they borrowed from their great neighbors, Egypt, Phoenicia ( § 139) , 
Damascus, or Assyria. 

109. Destruction of the Northern Kingdom by Assyria (722 
B.C.). While the Hebrews had been deeply stirred by their own 
conflicts at home, such men as Amos had also perceived and pro- 
claimed the dangers coming from abroad, from beyond the bor- 
ders of Palestine, especially from Assyria. As Amos had foreseen, 
the Assyrians crushed the kingdom of Israel, and Samaria, its 
capital, was captured by them in 722 B.C. Many of the unhappy 
Northern Hebrews were carried away as captives, and Israel was 
destroyed after having existed as a separate kingdom for a 
little over two centuries. 

The national hopes of the Hebrews were now centered in 
the helpless little kingdom of Judah (see map, p. 70), which 
still struggled on for over a century and a quarter. More help- 
less than Belgium in 19 14, Judah was now entangled in a great 
world conflict, in which Assyria was the irresistible champion. 
Thus far the Hebrews had been accustomed to think of their 
God as dwelling and ruling in Palestine only. Did he have power 
also over the vast world arena where all the great nations were 
fighting? But even if so, was not Assur, the great god of vic- 
torious Assyria, stronger than Yahveh, the God of the Hebrews ? 
A wonderful deliverance of Jerusalem from the cruel Assyrian 
army of Sennacherib (701 B.C.) enabled the great prophet Isaiah 
to teach the Hebrews that Yahveh, their God, controlled the great 
world arena, where He, and not Assur, was the triumphant 
champion. 

110. Destruction of the Southern Kingdom by Chaldea 
(586 B.C.). A century later Jerusalem beheld and rejoiced over 
the fall of Assyria and the destruction of Nineveh (§83). But 



Western Asia : The Medo-Persian Empire 73 

it had only exchanged one foreign lord for another, and Chaldea 
followed Assyria in control of Palestine (§ 85). Then their un- 
willingness to submit brought upon the men of Judah the same 
fate which their kindred of Israel had suffered. In 586 B.C. 
Nebuchadnezzar, the Chaldean king of Babylonia, destroyed 
Jerusalem and carried away the people to exile- in Babylonia. 

111. The Great Unknown Prophet answers Hebrew Doubts. 
Forced to dwell in a strange land the Hebrews were more than 
ever faced by the hard question : Was Isaiah right ? Or did 
Yahveh dwell and rule in Palestine only ? We hear the echo of 
their grief and their uncertainty in some of their surviving songs. 

By the rivers of Babylon, 

There we sat down, yea, we wept, 

When we remembered Zion [Jerusalem]. 

Upon the willows in the midst thereof 

We hanged up our harps. (Psalms cxxxvii, 1-2) 

Had they not left Yahveh behind in Palestine ? And then arose 
an unknown voice ^ among the Hebrew exiles, and out of their 
centuries of affliction gave them the answer. In a series of trium- 
phant speeches this greatest of early Hebrews declared Yahveh to 
be the creator and sole God of the universe. 

112. Monotheism reached by the Hebrews in Exile. Thus 
had the Hebrew vision of Yahveh slowly grown from the days of 
their nomad life. Then they had seen him only as a fierce tribal 
war god, having as they thought no power beyond the corner 
of the desert where they lived. But now they had come to regard 
him as a kindly father and a righteous ruler of all the earth. This 
was monotheism, which is a Greek word meaning " one-god-ism." 
They had reached it only through a long development, which 
carried them through suffering and disaster. It had been a 
discipline lasting many centuries. Just as the individual to-day, 
especially a young person, learns from his mistakes and 

1 This unknown voice was that of a great poet-preacher, a prophet of the exile, whose 
name has been lost. But his addresses to his fellow exiles are preserved in sixteen chap- 
ters embedded in the Old Testament book now bearing the name of Isaiah (chaps, xl-lv, 
inclusive). We may call him the Unknown Prophet. 



74 History of Europe 

develops character as he suffers for his own errors, so the suffer- 
ing Hebrews had outgrown many imperfect ideas. They thus 
illustrated the words of the greatest of Hebrew teachers, "First 
the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear."^ By this 
rich and wonderful experience of the Hebrews in religious prog- 
ress the whole world was yet to profit. 

113. Restoration of the Exiled Hebrews by the Persian 
Kings. When the victorious Cyrus entered Babylon (§97) the 
Hebrew exiles there greeted him as their deliverer. His triumph 
gave the Hebrews a Persian ruler. With great humanity the 
Persian kings allowed the exiles to return to their native land. 
Some had prospered in Babylonia and did not care to return. 
But at different times enough of them went back to Jerusalem 
to rebuild the city on a very modest scale and to restore the temple. 

114. The Old Testament our Legacy in Hebrew Religion. 
These returned exiles arranged and copied the ancient writings 
of their fathers, such as the stories of the patriarchs or the 
speeches of Amos (§§ 106-107). They also added other writings 
of their own. All these writings, in Hebrew, form the Bible of 
the Jews at the present day. It has also become a sacred book 
for all Christians and, as part of the Christian Bible, is called 
the Old Testament. It forms the most precious legacy which 
we have inherited from the older Orient before the coming of 
Christ. It tells the story of how. a rude shepherd folk issued 
from the wilds of the Arabian desert to live in Palestine and to 
go through experiences there which made them the religious 
teachers of the civilized world. And we should further remem- 
ber that, crowning all their history, there came forth from them 
in due time the founder of the Christian religion (§419). 

VI. Estimate of Oriental Civilization . 

115. Summary of the Achievements of the Orient : Inven- 
tions, Art, Religion. Persia was the last of the great oriental 
powers. We recall how the Orient passed from the discovery of 

1 The words of Jesus ; see Mark iv, 28. 



Western Asia : The Medo-Persian Empire 75 

metal and the invention of writing, through three great chapters of 
history on the Nile (about 3000 to 1150 B.C.) and three more on 
the Two Rivers (thirty-first century to 539 B.C.). When the six 
great chapters were ended, the East finally fell under the rule of the 
incoming Indo-Europeans, led by the Persians (from 539 B.C. on). 

What did the Ancient Orient really accomplish for the human 
race in the course of this long career ? It gave the world the 
first highly developed practical arts, like metal work, weaving, 
glass-making, paper-making, and many other similar industries. To 
distribute the products of these industries among other peoples and 
carry on commerce, it built the earliest seagoing ships equipped 
with sails. It first was able to move great weights and undertake 
large building enterprises — large even for us of to-day. The early 
Orient therefore brought forth the first great group of inventions, 
surpassed in importance only by those of the modern world. 

The Orient also gave us the earliest architecture in stone 
masonry, including the colonnade, the arch, the clerestory, and 
the tower, or spire. It produced the earliest refined sculpture, 
from the wonderful portrait figures and colossal statues of Egypt 
to the exquisite seals of early Babylonia. It gave us writing 
and the earliest alphabet. In literature it brought forth the 
earliest known tales in narrative prose, poems, historical works, 
social discussions, and even a drama. It gave us the calendar we 
still use. It gave us our weights and measures and founded the 
world's methods of commerce and business. It made a begin- 
ning in mathematics, astronomy, and medicine. It first produced 
government on a large scale, whether of a single great nation or 
of an empire made up of a group of nations. 

Finally, in religion the East developed the earliest belief in 
a sole God and his fatherly care for all men, and laid the founda- 
tions of a religious life from which came forth the founder of 
the leading religion of the civilized world to-day. For these things, 
accomplished — most of them — while Europe was still unde- 
veloped, our debt to the Orient is enormous. 

116. Lack of Freedom, Political and Mental, in the Ancient 
Orient. There were some very important things, however, which 



76 History of Europe 

the Orient had not yet gained. The Orient had always accepted 
as a matter of course the rule of a king. It had never occurred to 
anyone there that the people should have something to say about 
how they should be governed. No one had ever gained the idea 
of a free citizen, a man feeling what we call patriotism and under 
obligations to vote and to share in the government. Liberty as 
we understand it was" unknown, and the rule of the people, which 
we call " democracy," was never dreamed of in the Orient. Such 
responsibilities as that of thinking about public questions and 
then voting, or of serving as a soldier to defend the nation, are 
duties which quicken the mind and force men to action, and 
they were among the strongest influences in producing great men 
in Greece and Rome. 

Just as the Orientals accepted the rule of kings without ques- 
tion, so they accepted the rule of the gods. It was a tradition 
which they and their fathers had always accepted. This limited 
their ideas of the world about them. They thought that every 
storm was due to the interference of some god, and that every 
eclipse must be the angry act of a god or demon. Hence the 
Orientals made little inquiry into the natural causes of such things. 
In general, then, they suffered from a lack of freedom of the 
mind — a kind of intellectual bondage to religion and to old 
ideas. Under these circumstances natural science could not go 
very far, and religion was much darkened by superstition. 

117. Transition to Europe. There were, therefore, still bound- 
less things for mankind to do in government, in thought about 
the natural world, in gaining deeper views of the wonders and 
beauties of nature, as well as in art, in literature, and in many other 
lines. This future progress was to be made in Europe — that Eu- 
rope which we left, at the end of our first chapter, in the Late Stone 
Age. To Europe, therefore, we must now turn, to follow across 
the eastern Mediterranean the course of rising civilization, as 
it passed from the Orient to our forefathers in early Europe four 
to five thousand years ago. 



Western Asia : The Medo-Persian Empire 



77 



QUESTIONS 

I. (See map, p. loo.) Diagram the two racial lines, Indo-European 
and Semitic. From which line are we descended ? Give some account 
of the Indo-European parent people. Discuss its dispersion. 

II. Locate the Aryan tribes on the map. What Indo-European 
people first invaded the Fertile Crescent, and when ? Who was 
Zoroaster ? What peoples adopted the religion he taught ? 

III-IV. Who was Gyrus ? Where did his people live ? What great 
ancient city did Gyrus finally conquer ? What other ancient land did 
the son of Cyrus conquer ? What was then the extent of the Persian 
Empire ? Who organized it ? Describe Persian rule. 

V. What kind of life did the Hebrews originally lead ? Where is 
Palestine ? What was the final result of the Hebrew invasion ? What 
kind of great men arose Under the two Hebrew kingdoms ? What 
happened to the two kingdoms ? What happened to the surviving 
Hebrews ? Who allowed some of the exiles to return to Palestine ? 
Trace the growth of the Hebrews' idea of God. 

VI. What were the most important things which the Orient con- 
tributed to human life ? Did the people there ever have any voice 
in government ? Were there any citizens ? What was the attitude of 
the Orientals toward the gods ? How did this attitude affect science ? 
To what region do we now follow the story of early man ? 

Note. The lion figure below adorned the wall of the throne-room in the palace of 
Nebuchadnezzar at Babylon (§ 86). It is made of glazed brick in the brightest colors, 
which produced a gorgeous effect as architectural adornment. This art arose in Egypt, 
passed thence to Assyria and Babylonia, and was then adopted by the Persians. 



illllllffliliiiiiiiiilliBililliBMiiliilllliliil 




"^^""^^^•^'^'^''■^'^^^^^'^'■lllllilliiliiilll 



L_ ^iiil^^iiiaiiii 

JKHitlllilll 



BOOK III. THE GREEKS 



CHAPTER V 

THE DAWN OF EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION AND THE RISE 
OF THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN WORLD 

I. The Dawn of Civilization in Europe 

118. Stone Age Europe and the Orient. We have already 
studied the life of earliest man in Europe, where we followed 
his progress step by step through some fifty thousand years 
(pp. 1-13 ; reread §§ 12-16). At that point we were obliged to 
leave him and to pass over from Europe to the Orient, to watch 
there the birth and growth of civilization, while all Europe 
remained in the barbarism of the Late Stone Age. 

The inland villages of this age in Europe were already receiving 
occasional visits from the traders who came from the coast settle- 
ments along the Mediterranean. Such a trader's wares were 
always eagerly inspected, but the interest was greatest when he 
exhibited a few shining beads or neck rings of a strange, heavy, 
gleaming, reddish substance, so beautiful that the villagers traf- 
ficked eagerly for them. Most desired of all, however, was the 
dagger or ax head made of the same unfamiliar substance. Thus 
inner Europe made its first acquaintance with copper. 

With rapt attention and awe-struck faces the Late Stone Age 
Europeans listened to the trader's tales, telling of huge ships which 
made the rude European dugouts (Fig. 5) look like tiny chips. 
These mighty vessels had sailed out of the vast river of Egypt, 
greater than any other river in the world, said the trader. They 
were heavily loaded with the products of the Egyptian workshops 
which we have visited (§§ 36-40) ; and these things they carried 
across the Mediterranean to the islands and coasts of southeastern 

78 



The Rise of the Eastern Mediterranean World 79 

Europe or neighboring Asia. Thus at the dawn of history bar- 
barian Europe looked across the Mediterranean to the great 
civilization of the Nile, as our own North American Indians fixed 
their wondering eyes on the first Europeans who landed in America 
and listened to like strange tales of great and distant peoples. 

119. Backwardness of Continental Europe after receiving 
Metal (3000-2000 B.C.). Slowly Europe learned the use of metal.^ 
In spite of much progress in craftsmanship and a more 
civilized life in general, the possession of metal did not enable 
the peoples of Europe to advance to a high type of civilization. 
They still remained without writing, without architecture in 
hewn-stone masonry, and without large sailing ships for com- 
merce. In that portion of Europe nearest to Egypt, however, we 
find that civilization developed most rapidly ; namely, around the 
^gean Sea, to which we must now turn. 

II. The yEcEAN World : the Islands 

120. The .^gean World. The ^Egean Sea is like a large lake, 
almost completely encircled by the surrounding shores of Europe 
and Asia Minor, while the long island of Crete on the south lies 
like a breakwater, shutting off the Mediterranean from the .^gean 
Sea (see map, p. 42). From north to south this sea is at no 
point more than four hundred miles in length, while its width 
varies greatly. Its coast is deeply indented with many bays and 
harbors, and it is so thickly sprinkled with hundreds of islands 
that it is often possible to sail from one island to another in an 
hour or two. This sea, with its islands and the fringe of shores 
around it, formed a region by itself, which we may call the 
iEgean world. 

It enjoys a mild and sunny climate ; for this region of the 
Mediterranean lies in the belt of rainy winters and dry summers. 
Here and there the bold and beautiful shores (plate, p. 84) 

1 As we shall see, the Stone Age was only very gradually succeeded by the Copper 
or Bronze Age. Metal reached southeastern Europe not long after 3000 b. c, but in 
western and northern Europe it was almost 2000 B.C. before the beginning of the 
Copper Age, which soon merged into the Bronze Age. 



So 



History of Europe 



are varied by river valleys and small plains descending to the 
water's edge. On these lowlands wheat and barley, grapes and 
olives, may be cultivated without irrigation. Hence bread, wine, 
and oil were the chief food, as among most Mediterranean peoples 
to this day. Wine is their tea and coffee, and oil is their butter. 

121. People of the ^gean World. We call the earliest 
inhabitants of the ^gean world ^geans. They were inhabiting 
this region when civilization dawned there (about 3000 b.c), 

and they continued to 
live there for many 
centuries before the 
race known to us as 
the Greeks entered the 
region. These ^Egeans, 
the predecessors of the 
Greeks in the northern 
Mediterranean, be- 
longed to a great and 
gifted white race hav- 
ing no connection with 
the Greeks. They were, 
and their descendants 
still are, widely dis- 
tributed along the 
northern shores of the 
Mediterranean. We call them the Mediterranean race, but whence 
they came and their relationships with other peoples are questions 
as yet little understood. 

122. Nearness of the ^gean World to the Orient. A map 
of the Mediterranean (p. 42) shows us that the islands of south- 
eastern Europe are not far from the Nile mouths, and that Asia 
and Europe face each other across the waters of the iEgean. 
Asia Minor with its trade routes was therefore also a link which 
connected the Mgean world with the Fertile Crescent. We see 
here, then, that the older oriental civilizations were connected 
with the i^gean by two routes : first and earliest, by ship across 




Fig. 29. A Colonnaded Hall and Stair- 
case IN THE Cretan Palace at Cnossus 

The columns and roof of the hall are modern 
restorations 



The Rise oj the Eastern Mediterranean World 8i 



the Mediterranean from Egypt ; second, by land through Asia 
Minor from the Euphrates world. 

123. Rise of Cretan Civilization under Egyptian Influence 
(3000-2000 B.C.). Because of their nearness to Egypt, it was 
on the iEgean islands and not on the mainland of Europe that 
the earliest high civilization on 
the north side of the Mediter- 
ranean grew up. From the be- 
ginning the leader in this island 
civilization of the ^Egeans was 
Crete. The little sun-dried-brick 
villages, forming the Late Stone 
Age settlements of Crete, re- 
ceived copper from the ships of 
the Nile by 3000 B.C. They 
soon learned to make bronze, 
and thus the Bronze Age began 
in Crete after 3000 B.C. While 
the great pyramids of Egypt 
were being built, the Cretan 
craftsmen were learning from 
their Egyptian neighbors the 
use of the potter's wheel, the 
closed oven for burning pottery 
(§ 38), and many other im- 
portant things. For some time 
the Cretans had been employing 
rude picture records. Under the 
influence of Egypt these picture 

signs gradually developed into real phonetic writing, the earliest 
in the -(Egean world (about 2000 b.c). {Ancient Times, Fig. 135.) 

By 2000 B. c, the Cretans had become a highly civilized people. 
At Cnossus, not far from the middle of the northern coast (see 
map, p. 90), there grew up a Cretan kingdom which may finally 
have included a large part of the island. These kings rapidly 
learned the art of navigation from the Egyptians. Their ships, 




Fig. 30. One of the Large Dec- 
orated Cretan Jars, nearly 
Four Feet High, found at 
Ancient Cnossus 



82 History of Europe 

the earliest sailed by Europeans, were so numerous that these 
rulers are often called the "sea kings of Crete." Ruins of their 
earliest palace are still standing at Cnossus. 

124. The Grand Age in Crete (about 1600 to 1500 B.C.). A few 
centuries of such development carried Cretan civilization to 
its highest level, and the Cretans entered upon what we may- 
call their Grand Age (about i6oo to 1500 B.C.). The older palace 
of Cnossus (§ 123) gave way to a larger and more splendid build- 
ing with a colonnaded hall, fine stairways, and impressive open 
areas. This building represented the first real architecture in 
the northern Mediterranean. Its walls were painted with fresh 
and beautiful scenes from daily life, all aquiver with movement 
and action. After learning the Egyptian art of glass-making the 
Cretans also adorned their buildings with glazed figures attached 
to the surface of the wall. Noble vases (Fig. 30) were painted 
or modeled in relief with grand designs drawn from plant life or 
often from the life of the sea, where the Cretans were now 
more and more at home. This wonderful pottery belongs among 
the finest works of decorative art ever produced by any people. 
(See also Ancient Times, §§ 341-342 and Figs. 136-141). 

125. Summary and Historical Position of ^gean Civili- 
zation. Beside the two older centers of civilization on the Nile 
and the Two Rivers in this age, there thus grew up here in the 
eastern Mediterranean, as a third great civilization, this splendid 
world of Crete and the .^gean Sea. It was this third great 
civilization, the first to arise in Europe, which formed the earliest 
link between the civilization of the Orient and the later progress 
of man in Greece and western Europe. 

III. The ^gean World: the Mainland 

126. Cretan Civilization on the European Mainland ; 
Mycenaean Age (about 1500 to 1200 B.C.). As yet the main- 
land, both in Europe and in Asia Minor, had continued to lag 
behind the advanced civilization of the islands. Nevertheless, the 
fleets of Egypt and of Crete maintained commerce with the 



The Rise of the Eastern Mediterranean World 83 



mainland of Greece. These ships naturally entered the southern 



bays, and especially the 
directly toward Crete 
(see map, p. 90). In 
the plain of Argos 
(plate, p. 84), ^gean 
chieftains were suf- 
ficiently civilized after 
1500 B.C. to build the 
massive strongholds of 
Tiryns (Fig. 31) and 
Mycenae ( Fig. 32 ) . They 
imported works of Cre- 
tan and Egyptian art in 
pottery and metal, which 
axe to-day the earliest 
tokens of a life of higher 
refinement on the conti- 
nent of Europe (see 
Ancient Times, § 364). 

127. Civilization on 
the Asiatic Mainland : 
Troy (about 3000 to 
1200 B.C.). Along the 
Asiatic side of the 
/Egean Sea we find much 
earlier progress than on 
the European side. In 
the days when metal was 
first introduced into Crete 
(after 3000 b.c.) there 
arose at the northwest 
corner of Asia Minor a 
shabby little Late Stone 
* Age trading station 
known as Troy. Though 



Gulf of Argos, which looks southward 




Fig. 31. Restoration of the Castle 
AND Palace of Tiryns. (After Luck- 

ENBACH) 

Unlike the Cretan palaces this dwelling of 
an ^gean prince is massively fortified. A ris- 
ing road (A) leads up to the main gate {B), 
where the great walls are double. An assault- 
ing party bearing their shields on the left arm 
must here ( C, D) march with the exposed right 
side toward the city. By the gate [E) the visi- 
tor arrives in the large court (F) on which the 
palace faces. The main entrance of the pal- 
ace (C) leads to its forecourt [H), where the 
excavators found the place of the household 
altar of the king (§ 145). Behind the forecourt 
{H) is the main hall of the palace (/). This 
was the earliest castle in Europe with outer walls 
of stone. The villages of the common people 
clustered about the foot of the castle hill. The 
whole formed the nucleus of a city-state (§ 137) 
in the plain of Ar^os (see plate, p. 84) 



84 



History of Europe 



several times destroyed (Fig. 7,7,), it was rebuilt and continued to 
flourish, until it finally controlled a kingdom of considerable ex- 



tent in northwestern Asia Minor. 




Fig. 32. The Main Entrance of 

THE Castle of MvcENiE, called 

THE " Lion Gate " 

A good example of the heavy stone 
masonry of the two cities of the /Egean 
Grand Age, Tiryns and Mycenae, built 
on the plain of Arg8^ (plate, p. 84, 
and map, p. 90). Above the gate is a 
large triangular relief showing two 
lions grouped on either side of a cen- 
tral column, the whole doubtless form- 
ing the emblem of the city or the 
"arms" of its kings 



About 1500 B.C. the splendid 
and cultivated city of Troy 
(Fig. ^;^) was a powerful 
stronghold which had grown 
up as a northern rival of that 
flourishing Cnossus we have 
seen in the south, 

128. Asia Minor and the 
Hittites. Inland from Troy 
and the i^gean world, across 
the far-stretching hills and 
mountains of Asia Minor, 
were the settlements of a great 
group of white peoples who 
were kindred of the .^geans 
in civilization, though not in 
blood. We call them Hittites. 
Although the larger part of 
their land lay outside of the 
.^gean world, nevertheless one 
end of it formed the eastern 
shores of the .^Egean Sea. Asia 
Minor, their land, is a vast 
peninsula from six hundred 
and fifty to seven hundred 
miles long and from three to 
four hundred miles wide, being 
about as large as the state of 
Texas. It is capable of sup- 



porting a large and prosperous 
population. Especially important were the rich deposits of iron 
at the northeastern corner. The Hittites thus became the earliest 
distributors of iron when it began to displace bronze in the 
Mediterranean world and the East (§79). 




■a 


■a 


(U 


lU 


o 
o 


4-1 


■ ' 


o 


r 






TJ 




C 


x; 


rrt 


is 


« 


cfi 


D, 


o 


o 


bJ3 


1 



IT. 

"A 






l> 


< w 




^ 


^ "o 




H 


o c 

M T3 




fc. 


o C 




Q 






y 


" -3 




►J 






H 




< 


o 




t; 


t3 




a: 


C X. 




H 


O o 






(fl ^ 


Ji 


S 




C 


o 


« 


lU 


Ci 


3 *i 


o 


fe 


ii5 


% 


G 


^ C 


■T3 


W 


<U O 


r2_ 


^ 


PQ -S 


ra 


w 




M 


1— < 

> 




c 




« > 


;-< 


< 


T3 " 


H 


in 




o 


H 


c y= 


m 






d) 


hC 


rt (u 




H 


2 -^ 


+-» 




G 


Q 


13 

o <u 


<u 


2 


P P 


X. 


<; 




-i-> 


c/: 


c 




O 


rt OJ 




o 


o 
C C 




< 


1^ 




o 


^-1 oJ" 




J^ 


■g ^ 




< 


V^ 




J 


03 C 




c^ 


S; o 






1 = 




H 


U 1) 





The Rise of the Eastern Mediterranean World 85 

The Hittites first received civilization from their contact with 
the Fertile Crescent at the east end of Asia Minor. Babylonian 
traders brought in business documents in the form of cuneiform 
tablets, and in this way the Hittites learned to write their own 
language with cuneiform signs. At the same time the Hittites, by 
studying Egyptian hieroglyphics, invented a similar system of 




r 



Fig. 33. The Mound of Ancient Trov (Ilium) 

This mound was first dug into by Heinrich Schliemann (see Ancient Times, 
§§ 362-364). When he first visited it (see map, p. 42) in 1868, it was about 
one hundred and twenty-five feet high, and the Turks were cultivating grain 
on its summit. He excavated a pit Hke a crater in the top of the hill, passing 
downward through nine successive cities built each on the ruins of its 
predecessors {see Ancient Times, Fig. i$o). At the bottom of his pit (about 
fifty feet deep) Schliemann found the original once bare hilltop about 
seventy-five feet high, on which the men of the Late Stone Age had estab- 
lished a small settlement of sun-baked-brick houses about 3000 B.C. (First 
City). Above the scanty ruins of this Late Stone Age settlement Schliemann 
found, in layer after layer, the ruins of the later cities, with the Roman 
buildings at the top. The entire depth of about fifty feet of ruins repre- 
sented a period of about thirty-five hundred years from the lowest or First 
City (Late Stone Age) to the Ninth City (Roman) at the top. The Second 
City contained the earliest copper found in the series; the Sixth City was 
that. of the Trojan War and the Homeric songs (§§ 142-143) 

phonetic signs. In art and in architecture the Hittites likewise 
learned much both from the Nile and the Two Rivers.^ They 
and their country formed a connecting link by which influences 
from the Fertile Crescent passed westward to the .^gean world. 

129. The Hittite Empire (about 1450 to 1200 B.C.). By about 
1450 B.C. the Hittites had succeeded in building up a power- 
ful empire which included a large part of Asia Minor. They 

1 A fuller account of the civilization of the Hittites and of the important part they 
played as a link between the Fertile Crescent and the peoples of the yEgean, carrying 
many things of importance from Babylonia to the Greek world, will be found in Ancient 
7/>«^j, §§351-360. 



86 History of Europe 

played a vigorous part in the great group of nations around the 
eastern end of the Mediterranean, after Egypt had established the 
first empire there (§§ 48-49), and they finally aided in the over- 
throw of the Egyptian Empire (§ 54). The Hittite Empire lasted 
from about 1450 to 1200 b.c. While Hittite civilization was 
inferior to that of Egypt and Babylonia, it occupied a very im- 
portant place in the group of civilizations forming the oriental 
neighbors of the ^Egeans. 

130. Summary of the Northeast Mediterranean World. 
As we look at the map (p. 42), we see that Greece and the 
JEgean, together with Troy and Asia Minor, formed a great 
civilized world on the north of the Mediterranean at its eastern 
end. We have seen that this civilized world had received civili- 
zation from the Orient on the south and east. Farther norths how- 
ever, there were still numerous uncivilized peoples. From behind the 
Balkan mountains and the Black Sea they were migrating toward 
the Mediterranean (Fig. 27). Some of these uncivilized Northern- 
ers were the Greeks. They were soon to overwhelm the eastern 
Mediterranean, and with these Northern intruders we must begin 
a new chapter in the history of the eastern Mediterranean world. 

IV. The Coming of the Greeks 

131. Southward Advance of the Indo-European Line in 
Europe. The people whom we call the Greeks were a large 
group of tribes belonging to the Indo-European race. We have 
already followed the migrations of the Indo-European parent 
people until their wanderings finally ranged them in a line from 
the Atlantic Ocean to northern India (§91 and Fig. 27). While 
their eastern kindred were drifting southward on the east side of 
the Caspian the Greeks on the west side of the Black Sea were 
likewise moving southward from their pastures in the grasslands 
along the Danube (see map, p. 100). 

Driving their herds before them, with their families in rough 
carts drawn by horses, the rude Greek tribesmen must have 
looked out upon the fair pastures of Thessaly, the snowy summit 



The Rise of the Eastern Mediterranean World 87 

of Olympus, and the blue waters of the ^gean not long after 
2000 B.C. The Greek peninsula which they had entered contains 
about twenty-five thousand square miles.^ It is everywhere cut 
up by mountains and inlets of the sea into small plains and 
peninsulas, separated from each other either by the sea or by 
the mountain ridges (Fig. 41). 

132. Barbarian Greek Herdsmen invade the iEgean World. 
These barbarian Greek herdsmen from the Northern grasslands 
(§89 and Fig. 27) had formerly led a wandering pastoral life 
like that which we have seen also in the Southern grasslands. 
But now they were entering upon a settled life among the Mgtdio. 
towns, like Tiryns and Mycenae (§126). As the newcomers 
looked out across the waters, they could dimly discern the islands 
where flourishing towns were carrying on busy industries in pot- 
tery and metal, which the ships of Egypt and the ^geans (§ 123) 
were distributing far and wide. 

It was to be long, however, before these inland Greek shepherds 
would themselves venture timidly out upon the great waters which 
they were viewing for the first time. Under the influences of the 
Orient the Greeks were now to go forward tov/ard the development 
of a civilization higher than any the Orient had produced — the 
highest, indeed, which ancient man ever attained. 

133. Greeks take Possession of the -^gean World. 
Gradually their vanguard (called the Achseans) pushed south- 
ward into the Peloponnesus, and doubtless some of them mingled 
with the dwellers in the villages which were grouped under the 
walls of Tiryns and Mycenae (Figs. 31 and 32). But our knowl- 
edge of the situation in Greece is very meager because the peoples 
settled there could not yet write and therefore have left no written 
documents to tell the story. It is evident, however, that a second 
wave of Greek nomads (called the Dorians) reached the Pelopon- 
nesus by 1500 B.C. and gradually subdued and absorbed their 

lit is about one sixth smaller than South Carolina — so small that Mount 
Olympus on the northern boundary of Greece can be seen over a large part of the 
peninsula. From the mountains of Sparta one can see from Crete to the mountains 
north of the Corinthian Gulf (see Fig. 41), a distance of two hundred and twenty- 
five miles. 



gg History of Europe 

earlier kinsmen (the Achaeans) as well as the .Egean townsmen, 
the original inhabitants of the region. 

The Dorians did not stop at the southern limits of Greece, but, 
learning a little navigation from their *^gean predecessors, soon 
passed over to Crete, where they must have arrived by 1400 b.c. 
Cnossus, unfortified as it was, must have fallen an easy prey 
to the invading Dorians. They conquered the island and likewise 
seized the other southern islands of the ^gean. Between 1300 
and 1000 B.C. the several tribes now established in Greece took 
the remaining islands and the coast of Asia Minor, — the Dorians 
in the south, the lonians in the middle, and the ^olians in the 
north. Here a memorable Greek expedition in the twelfth century 
B.C., after a long siege, captured and burned the prosperous city 
of Troy (§127), a feat which the Greeks never after forgot 
(§ 142). Thus during the thousand years between 2000 and 
1000 B.C. the Greeks took possession not only of the whole Greek 
peninsula but likewise of the entire .^gean world. 

134. Flight of the -^geans and Fall of their Civilization 
(by 1200 B.C.). The northern INIediterranean all along its eastern 
end was thus being seized by invading peoples of Indo-European 
blood coming in from the north. The result was that both the 
.^geans and their Hittite neighbors in Asia Minor were over- 
whelmed by the advancing Indo-European line (Fig. 27). The 
Hittite Empire (§ 129) was crushed, and the leading families 
among the ^geans fled by sea, chiefly to the south and east. 
In only one place were they able to land in sufficient numbers to 
settle and form a nation. This was on the coast of southern 
Palestine (see map, p. 70), where a tribe of Cretans called 
Philistines founded a nation which proved very dangerous to 
the Hebrews. Palestine is still called after the Philistines, of 
which the word "Palestine" is a later form. By 1200 b.c, there- 
fore, the splendid ^gean towns and their wonderful civilization 
(§§ 123-125) had been completely crushed by the incoming 
Greek barbarians. 

The ^gean civilization, the earliest that Europe had gained, 
thus almost disappeared. But much of the ^Egean population 



The Rise of the Eastern Mediterranean World 89 

had not fled. Remaining in their old homes, they feebly carried 
on the old ^gean industries, and these formed part of the founda- 
tion on which the barbarian Greeks were destined to build up 
the highest civilization of the ancient world. These ^geans 
mingled with their Greek conquerors. This commingling of 
^geans and Greeks produced a mixed race, the people known to 
us as the Greeks of history. Although the ^geans thus survived, 
they lost their language ; Greek, the language of the conquerors, 
became the speech of this mixed race, and so it has remained to 
this day. 



V. The Nomad Greeks make the Transition 
TO THE Settled Life 



f 135. Earliest Institutions of the Greeks. Long after the 
Greeks had seized the ^^gean world they remained a barbarous 
people of flocks and herds. We remember that the nomads along 
the Fertile Crescent possessed no organized government, for there 
was no public business which demanded it. Such was exactly the 
condition of the nomad Greeks when they began a settled life in 
the ^gean world. From their old wandering life on the grass- 
lands they carried with them the loose groups of families known 
as tribes. Within each tribe was an indefinite number of smaller 
groups of more intimate families called " brotherhoods." A '' coun- 
cil" of the old men ("elders") occasionally decided matters in 
dispute or questions of tribal importance. Probably once a year, or 
at some important feast, an " assembly " of all the weapon-bearing 
men of the tribe might be held, to express its opinion of a pro- 
posed war or migration. These are the germs of later European 
political institutions and even of our own in the United States 
to-day.^ 

It was perhaps after the Greeks had found kings over such 
JEgean cities as Mycenae (§ 126) that Greek kings began to 

1 Compare the House of Lords (= the above "council'') and the House of 
Commons (= the above "assembly") in England, or the Senate (derived from 
the Latin word meaning " old man ") and the House of Representatives in the 
United States. 



90 History of Europe 

appear. Thus the old-time nomad leaders whom they had once 
followed in war, religion, and the settlement of disputes became 
rude shepherd kings of the tribes. 

136. Greeks begin Agriculture. Meantime the Greek shep- 
herds slowly began the cultivation of land. This forced them to 
give up a wandering life, to build houses, and live in permanent 
homes. Nomad instincts and nomad customs were not easily 
rooted out, however, for flocks and herds continued to make 
up the chief wealth of the Greeks for centuries after they had 
taken up agriculture. 

As each Greek tribe settled down and became a group of 
villages, the surrounding land was divided among the families 
by lot. Private ownership of land by families gradually resulted. 
As a consequence there arose disputes about boundaries, about 
inheritances in land (§ 158), and much other legal business. The 
settlement of such business tended to create a government. Dur- 
ing the four centuries from 1000 to 600 B.C. we see the Greeks 
struggling with the problem of learning how to transact the 
business of settled landholding communities. 

137. Rise of Greek Civilization in the Age of the Kings 
(1000-750 B.C.). No one had ever yet written a word of the 
Greek language in this age when the Greeks were adopting the 
settled agricultural life. Cretan writing (§ 123) had perished. 
This lack of writing among the Greeks greatly increased the dif- 
ficulties as government transactions began and could not be 
recorded. 

In course of time the group of villages forming the nucleus 
of a tribe grew together and merged at last into a city. This 
was the most important process in Greek political development ; 
for the organized city became the only nation which the Greeks 
ever knew. Each city-state was a nation ; each had its own laws, 
its own army and gods, and each citizen felt a patriotic duty to- 
ward his own city and no other. Overlooking the city from the 
heights in its midst was the king's castle (Fig. 31), which we 
call the "citadel," or ''acropolis." Eventually, the houses and 
the market below were protected by a wall. The king had now 



The Rise oj the Eastern Mediterranean World 91 

become a revered and powerful ruler of the city and guardian of 
the worship of the city gods. King and Council sat all day in 
the market and adjusted the business and the disputes between the 
people. These continuous sessions for the first time created a 
State and an uninterrupted government. 

There were soon hundreds of such Greek city-states. Indeed, 
the entire ^gean world came to be made up of such tiny nations. 
It was while the Greeks were thus living in these little city- 
kingdoms under kings that Greek civilization arose, especially dur- 
ing the last two and a half centuries of the rule of the kings 
(1000-750 B.C.). 

VI. Greek Civilization in the Age 
OF the Kings 

138. The Dawn of Greek Civilization. Long after 1000 b.c. 
the life of the Greeks continued to be rude and even barbarous. 
Here and there memories of the old ^gean splendor still lingered, 
as in the plain of Argos. Above the Greek village at Mycenae 
still towered the massive stone walls (Fig. 32) of the ancient 
.^gean princes, who had long before passed away. To these huge 
walls the Greeks looked up with awe-struck faces and thought 
that they had been built by vanished giants called Cyclops. With- 
out any skill in craftsmanship, the Greek shepherds and peasants 
were slow to take up building, industries, and manufacturing on 
their own account. They made a beginning at pottery, using the 
same methods employed by the ^Egean potters in producing their 
fine ware in Crete a thousand years earlier (Fig. 30). 

139. Oriental Influences carried by Phoenician Merchants. 
When we remember how civilization arose among the .^^geans 
(§§ 122-123), we perceive that the Greeks were now exposed to 
the same oriental influences which had first brought civilized 
life to the ^Egean peoples. The Greek townsmen had to buy 
all the ordinary conveniences, — which they were still unable 
to manufacture for themselves. All these things came to them 
from across the sea. In the harbor they found Phoenician ships 



92 History oj Europe 

loaded with gorgeous clothing ; perfume flasks made of glass 
and alabaster ; porcelain, bronze, and silver tableware wrought 
with splendid decorative patterns ; polished ivory combs, and 
plentiful jewelry {Ancient Times, Figs. 157-158). 

We see, then, that after the fall of the Egyptian Empire and 
the destruction of the ^gean towns the ships of both the Egyp- 
tians and the ^geans, the first traders in the Mediterranean, 
had disappeared. The Phoenicians (§61) on the west end of 
the Fertile Crescent, along the Syrian coast, were therefore taking 
advantage of this opportunity. They became the greatest mer- 
chants of the Mediterranean for several centuries after 1000 B.C. 
They pushed westward beyond the ^gean and were the dis- 
coverers of the western Mediterranean. Their colony of Carthage 
in north Africa (see map, p. 100) became the most important 
commercial state in the western Mediterranean, and they even 
planted settlements as far away as the Atlantic coast of Spain. 
Thus the Phoenicians were carrying the art and industries of the 
Orient throughout the Mediterranean. 

140. Phoenicians carry the First Alphabet to Europe. But 
the Phoenicians brought to the Greeks a crowning gift of far more 
value than manufactured goods. Before 1000 B.C. the Phoenician 
merchants had given up the inconvenient clay tablet of Baby- 
lonia (Fig. 21), used all along the Fertile Crescent, and they 
were writing on imported Egyptian papyrus paper. They like- 
wise invented their own system of twenty-two signs for writing 
their own language. These signs were alphabetic letters, the first 
system containing no word-signs or syllable-signs (§§20-21). 
The Greeks soon became familiar with the Phoenician tradesman's 
sheets of pale-yellow paper, bearing his bills and receipts, and at 
last they began to write Greek words by using the Phoenician 
letters. Thus an alphabet appeared in Europe for the first time. 
By 700 B.C. the Greek potters had begun to write their names 
on the jars which they painted (Fig. 34), and writing was shortly 
afterward common among Greeks of all classes. From the alpha- 
bet which the Phoenicians thus brought to the Greeks, all the alpha- 
bets of the civilized world have been derived, including our own. 



The Rise of the Eastern Mediterranean World 93 

Along with the alphabet the equipment for using it — that 
is, pen, ink, and paper — for the first time came into Europe. 
The Greeks received all their paper from Egypt through the 
Phoenicians; hence our word "paper," derived from ''papyrus" 
(§22). The Greeks also called papyrus "by bios" after the 
Phoenician city of Byblos, from which they received it. Thus 







Fig. 34. Vase-Painting containing the Earliest Example of 

Greek Writing 

Aristonothos, the artist who made this vase-painting, has inserted his name 
over the standard at the right, in the lower row, where the letters run to the 
right and drop down. It reads, " Aristonothos made it." This is not only the 
earliest signed vase (§ 140) but it is likewise the earliest signed work of art, 
crude though it may be, in Europe 



arose the Greek word "biblia" for books, and from this word 
has come our word '' Bible." This English word " Bible," once 
the name of a Phoenician city, is a living evidence of the origin 
of books and the paper of which they are made in the ancient 
Orient, from which the Greeks received so much.^ 

1 A fuller account of the remarkable achievements of the Phoenicians will be found 
in Ancient Times, §§ 394-405. 



94 History of Europe 

141. Warfare and Weapons. The Greek nobles of this age 
loved war and were devoted to fighting and plundering. Their 
protective armor, was of bronze, but their weapons were at this 
time commonly of iron (§§ 79, 128). It was only men of 
some wealth who possessed a fighting outfit like this. They were 
the leading warriors. The ordinary troops, lacking armor, were 
of little consequence in battle, which consisted of a series of single 
combats, each between two heroes. Thus each man's individual 
skill, experience, and daring won the battle, rather than the dis- 
cipline of drilled masses. 

142. Rise of the Hero Songs. Men delighted to sing of 
valiant achievements on the field of battle and to tell of the stir- 
ring deeds of mighty heroes. In the pastures of Thessaly, where 
the singer looked up at the cloud-veiled summit of Mount 
Olympus, the home of the gods, there early grew up a group of 
such songs telling many a story of the feats of gods and heroes, 
the earliest literature of the Greeks. Into these songs were woven 
also vague memories of remote wars which had actually occurred, 
especially the war in which the Greeks had captured and destroyed 
the splendid city of Troy (§ 133). Probably by 1000 B.C. some 
of these songs had crossed to the coasts and islands of Ionia on 
the Asiatic side of the ^Egean Sea. 

Here arose a class of professional bards who graced the feasts 
of king and noble with songs of battle and adventure recited 
to the music of the harp. Framed in exalted and ancient forms 
of speech, and rolling on in stately measures,^ these heroic songs 
resounded through many a royal hall — the oldest literature born 
in Europe. After the separate songs had greatly increased in 
number, they were finally woven together by the bards into a 
connected whole — a great epic series, especially clustering about 
the traditions of the Greek expedition against Troy. They were not 
the work of one man, but a growth of several centuries, the work of 
generations of singers, some of whom were still living even after 
700 B.C. It was then that they were first written down (§ 140). 

1 These were in hexameter ; that is, six feet to a line. This Greek verse is the oldest 
literary form in Europe. 



The Rise oj the Eastern Mediterranean World 95 

143. Homer. Among these ancient singers there seems to 
have been one of great fame whose name was Homer (see Ancient 
Times, Fig. 161). His reputation was such that he was supposed 
to have been the author of two great series of songs : the Iliad,^ 
the story of the Greek expedition against Troy ; and the Odyssey, 
or the tale of the wanderings of the hero Odysseus on his return 
from Troy. These are the only two series of songs that have 
entirely survived ; even the ancient world had its doubts about 
Homer's authorship of the Odyssey. 

These ancient bards not only gave the world its greatest epic 
in the Iliad, but they were, moreover, the earliest Greeks to put 
into permanent written form their thoughts regarding the world 
of gods and men. They gave to the disunited Greeks a common 
literature and the inspiring belief that they had once all taken 
part in a common war against Asia. 

144. Homeric Songs and Greek Religion. At that time the 
Greeks had no other sacred books, and the Homeric songs be- 
came the veritable Bible of Greece. Just as devout Hebrews 
were taught much about their God by the beautiful tales of 
Him in the narrative of the great Unknown Historian (§ 106), so 
the wonderful Homeric songs brought vividly before the Greeks 
the life of the Gods. Homer became the religious teacher of the 
Greeks. 

In the Homeric songs and in the primitive tales about the 
gods, which we call myths, the Greeks heard how the gods dwelt 
in veiled splendor among the clouds on the summit of Mount 
Olympus. There, in his cloud palace, Zeus, the Sky-god, with 
the lightning in his hand, ruled the gods like an earthly king. 
Apollo, the Sun-god, whose beams were golden arrows, was the 
deadly archer of the gods. But he also shielded the flocks of the 
shepherds and the fields of the plowman, and he was a wondrous 
musician. Above all he knew the future ordained by Zeus, and 
when properly consulted at his shrine at Delphi (Fig. 38) he could 
tell anxious inquirers what the future had in store for them. 
These qualities gave him a larger place in the hearts of all Greeks 

1 So named after Ilium, the Greek name of Troy. 



96 History of Europe 

than Zeus himself, and in actual worship he became the most 
beloved god of- the Greek world. 

Athena, the greatest goddess of the Greeks, seems to have 
been a warrior goddess, and the Greeks loved to think of her 
with shining weapons, protecting the Greek cities. But she held 
out her protecting hand over them also in times of peace, as the 
potters shaped their jars, the smiths wrought their metal, or the 
women wove their wool. Thus she became the wise and gracious 
protectress of the peaceful life of industry and art. Of all her 
divine companions she was the wisest in counsel, and an ancient 
tale told how she had been born in the very brain of her father 
Zeus, from whose head she sprang forth full-armed. These three 
then, Zeus, Apollo, and Athena, became the leading divinities of 
the Greek world. 

There was a further group of great gods, each controlling some 
special realm. In a brazen palace deep under the waters Poseidon 
ruled the sea. The ancient Earth Mother, whom they called 
Demeter, brought forth the produce of the soil. At the same 
time they looked also to another earth god, Dionysus, for the 
fruit of the grapevine, and they rejoiced in the wine which he 
gave them. Hermes was the messenger of the gods, with winged 
feet, doing their bidding, but he was also the patron of the inter- 
course of men, and hence the god of trade and commerce. The 
Semitic goddess of love, whom we have met on the Fertile Crescent 
as Ishtar (§ 87), had now passed over from the Syrian cities to 
become likewise the Greek goddess of love, whom the Greeks 
called Aphrodite. 

145. The Greek Gods, their Conduct and Worship. All 
these divinities the Greeks pictured in human form, and they 
thought of them as possessing human traits, both good and bad. 
Homer pictures to us the family quarrels between the august Zeus 
and his wife Hera, just as such things must have occurred in the 
household life of the Greeks. Such gods were not likely to re- 
quire anything better in the conduct of men.^ 

1 Greek religion was the result of a long development, which began on the grass- 
lands, and also among the .Egeans, some of whose beliefs the Greeks inherited. This 
development continued far down in Greek history. See Ancient Times, §§ 412-423. 



The Rise of the Eastern Mediterranean World 97 

One reason why the Greeks did not yet think that the gods 
required right conduct of men was their notion of life after death. 
They beheved that all men passed at death into a gloomy kingdom 
beneath the earth (Hades), where the fate of good men did not 
differ from that of the wicked. As a special favor of the gods, 
the heroes, men of mighty and godlike deeds, were granted im- 
mortality and permitted to enjoy a life of endless bliss in the 
beautiful Elysian Fields or in the Islands of the Blest, somewhere 
far to the west, toward the unexplored ocean. 

The symbols of the great gods were set up in every house, 
while in the dwelling of the king there was a special room which 
served as a kind of shrine for them. There was also an altar in 
the forecourt where sacrifices could be offered under the open 
sky. In so far as the gods had any dwellings at all, we see that 
they were in the houses of men, and there probably were no 
temples as yet. 

146. Summary of the Age of the Kings. In this period the 
Greeks gradually completed the change from a wandering shep- 
herd life to a settled life in and around small towns. Thus arose 
the little city-kingdoms, the most important thing in the organized 
life of the Greeks. At the same time, with the rise of the hero 
songs and the adoption of an oriental alphabet, the Greeks pro- 
duced the earliest European literature which has survived. In 
general, then, the Age of the Kings saw the barbarian Greek 
shepherds forming civilized states, with government, writing, and 
literature (1000-750 b.c). 

QUESTIONS 

I. How did Europe first receive metal and whence ? How did it 
cross the Mediterranean ? At what point ? In what part of Europe 
did civilization first take root ? 

II. Describe the i^gean world in geography, climate, and products. 
Tell of its earliest inhabitants. Near what civilized world did the 
/Egean lie ? As a result, how was it influenced ? Where was this in- 
fluence first felt ? What civilized things did Crete first receive ? What 
city was leader of Cretan civilization ? What name have its kings 
received ? Why ? 



gS History of Europe 

Had Europe ever had sailing ships before? When did the 
Grand Age begin in Crete ? Tell of its architecture and decorative 
art. After the rise of Crete how many great centers of civihzation 
were there ? Name them. 

III. How did Cretan civilization influence the mainland of Eu- 
rope ? Where did the European mainland first feel the influence of 
Cretan civilization ? Indicate on the map why this was. What two 
towns sprang up in Greece ? Point them out on the map. Describe 
the castle of Tiryns and draw a plan of its main parts. Had there 
been any such stone buildings in Europe before this ? 

Where did a similar town arise on the Asiatic side of the ^gean? 
Give its name. When did it reach a highly flourishing state ? Describe 
the remains of the city (Fig. 33). Who "excavated" it? When was 
it destroyed by the Greeks ? 

What people lived inland from Troy ? Whence did they receive 
their civilization ? When did their empire flourish ? What did it in- 
clude ? What important metal did they first begin to mine and dis- 
tribute in commerce ? What barbarous people threatened the new 
civilization on the north side of the Mediterranean. 

IV. To what great race do the Greeks belong ? Whence did 
their ancestors come ? How did they enter Greece ? Were they 
nomads or townsmen ? Who were two of the earliest Greek peoples ? 
What became of the old ^gean people of Greece ? What happened 
to Crete ? What ^gean lands did the Greeks finally hold ? 

V. Describe the transition of the Greeks from nomad to settled 
life. Describe their government and its different institutions. What 
problems did their new settled life create ? What about writing among 
them ? What kind of Greek states arose ? 

VI. Did the Greeks take up civilization quickly ? Did they receive 
much from the ^geans ? To what other civilized influences were the 
Greeks exposed after settling in the ^gean ? Who brought such in- 
fluences to the Greeks ? How ? What was the greatest thing the 
Phoenicians brought to the Greeks ? How did it finally benefit us ? 

Describe warfare in this age. What songs arose ? Who was their 
reputed author? Tell about the leading Greek gods. What can you 
say of their early places of worship ? 



CHAPTER VI 

THE AGE OF THE NOBLES AND GREEK EXPANSION 
IN THE MEDITERRANEAN 

I. The Disappearance of the Kings and the 
Leadership of the Nobles 

147. Geographical Influences against a Union of All Greeks 
in One Nation. We have seen Greek civilization beginning 
under oriental influences. In matters of government, however, the 
Greek world showed striking differences from what we have seen 
in the Orient. There we watched each group of early city-states 
finally uniting into a large and powerful nation, like Egypt on 
the Nile or Babylonia on the Two Rivers. In Greece, however, 
there were influences which tended to prevent such a union of 
the Greek city-states into one nation. In the first place, the 
country was cut up by mountain ridges and deep bays, so that 
the different communities were quite separated. Moreover, the 
cities of Greece on the one hand were likewise separated from 
their kindred in the islands and in Asia Minor on the other hand. 

Furthermore, the Greeks had by this time acquired permanent 
local habits and local dialects, showing more differences than those 
between our own Louisiana and New England. Each Greek com- 
munity displayed such intense devotion to its own town and its 
own local gods that we find in Greece after looc B.C. scores of 
little city-states ; including the islands and Asia Minor there 
must have been several hundred of them (§ 137). 

148. The Four Unions. Four regions on the mainland of 
Greece, each forming a pretty clearly outlined geographical whole, 
like the peninsula of Laconia or that of Attica (see map, p. 90), 
permitted the union of city-states into a larger nation. The oldest 
of these was formed in the plain of Argos (map, p. 90). Here 

99 



100 History of Europe 

the towns of Argos gradually absorbed the ancient strongholds 
of Mycenae and Tiryns (Figs. 31 and 32) and others in the 
vicinity, forming the nation of Argos and giving its name to the 
plain (plate, p. 84). In the same way the kings of Sparta 
conquered the two peninsulas on the south of them and finally 
also the land of the Messenians on the west. The two kingdoms 
of Argos and Sparta thus held a large part of the Peloponnesus. 

In the Attic peninsula, likewise, the little city-kingdoms were 
slowly absorbed by Athens, which at last gained control of the 
entire peninsula. On the northern borders of Attica the region 
of Bceotia fell under the leadership of Thebes, but the other 
Boeotian cities were too strong to be wholly subdued. Elsewhere 
no large and permanent unions were formed. Sparta and Athens 
led the two most important unions among all the Greeks. Let 
it be borne in mind that such a nation remained a city-state in 
spite of its increased territory. The nation occupying the Attic 
peninsula was called Athens, and every peasant in Attica was 
called an Athenian. The city government of Athens covered the 
whole Attic peninsula. 

149. The Greek State and the Struggle toward Democracy. 
In the matter of governing such a little city-state the Greeks 
entered upon 5, new stage of their development about 750 b.c, 
as the common people began the struggle to better their lot. 
As we shall see, this long and bitter struggle finally resulted in 
giving the people in some Greek states so large a share in gov- 
erning that the form of the government might be called democ- 
racy. This is a word of Greek origin, meaning "the rule of the 
people," and the Greeks were the first people of the ancient world 
to gain it. 

The cause of this struggle was not only the corrupt rule of 
the kings but also the oppression of the wealthy nobles. We 
have watched these men of wealth buying the luxuries of the 
Phoenician merchants (§ 139). By fraud, unjust seizure of lands, 
union of families in marriage, and many other influences, the 
strong men of ability and cleverness were able to enlarge their 
lands. Thus there had arisen a class of nobles whom we call 



! 



The Age of the Nobles lOi 

hereditary, because they inherited their wealth and rank. These 
large landholders and men of wealth were also called eupatrids. 

Their fields stretched for some miles around the city and its 
neighboring villages. In order to be near the king or secure 
membership in the Council (§§135, 137) and thus control the 
government, these men often left their lands and lived in the 
city. Such was the power of the eupatrids that the Council 
finally consisted only of men of this class. Wealthy enough to 
buy costly weapons, with leisure for continual exercise in the 
use of arms, these nobles had also become the chief protection 
of the State in time of war (§ 141). 

150. Misery and Weakness of the Peasants. Thus grew 
up a sharp distinction between the city community and the 
peasants living in the country. The country peasant was obliged 
to divide the family lands with his brothers. His fields were 
therefore small, and he was poor. He went about clad in a 
goatskin, and his labors never ceased. Hence he had no leisure 
to learn the use of arms, nor any way to meet the expense of 
purchasing them. He and his neighbors were therefore of small 
account in war (§ 141). Indeed, he was fortunate if he could 
struggle on and maintain himself and family from his scanty 
fields. Many of his neighbors sank into debt, lost their lands to 
the noble class, and themselves became day laborers for more 
fortunate men, or, still worse, they sold themselves to pay their 
debts and thus became slaves. These day laborers and slaves 
had no political rights and were not permitted to vote in the 
Assembly. 

Intimidated by the powerful nobles, the meager Assembly, 
which had once included all the weapon-bearing men of the tribe 
(§ 135) > became a feeble gathering of a few peasants and lesser 
townsmen with little political power. The peasant therefore was 
less and less inclined to attend the Assembly at all. 

151. Triumph of the Nobles ; Fall of the Kings (750-650 B.C.). 
By 750 B.C. the office of the king had in some states be- 
come merely a name. While the king was in some cases violently 
overthrown, in most states the nobles established from among 



102 History of Europe 

themselves certain elective officers to take charge of matters 
formerly controlled by the king. 

Thus in Athens they appointed a noble to be leader in war, 
while another noble was chosen as archon, or ruler, to assist the 
king in attending to the increasing business of the State. The 
Athenian king was thus gradually but peacefully deprived of 
his powers. In Sparta the power of the king was checked by 
the appointment of a second king, and on this plan Sparta con- 
tinued to retain her kings. Elsewhere in the century between 
750 and 650 B.C. the kingship quite generally disappeared. The 
result of the political and social struggle was thus the triumph 
of the nobles, who were henceforth in control in many states. 

II. Greek Expansion in the Age of the Nobles 

152. Rise of Commerce and Shipbuilding among the Greeks. 
The Age of the Nobles witnessed another great change in Greek 
life. The Greek merchants gradually took up sea trade. Among 
the Asiatic Greeks it was the Ionian cities which led in this com- 
merce. The .^gean waters gradually grew familiar to the Greek 
communities, until the sea routes became far easier lines of com- 
munication than the country roads. 

153. Greek Colonies. At this point the poverty of the peasants 
(§ 150) became an important influence, leading the Greek farmers 
to seek new homes and new lands beyond the .^gean world. 
Greek merchants were not only trafficking with the northern 
i^gean but their vessels had penetrated the great northern sea, 
which they called the ^'Pontus," known to us as the Black Sea 
(see map, p. 100) . Before 600 b. c. they girdled the Black Sea with 
their towns and settlements, reaching the broad grainfields along 
the lower Danube and the iron mines of the old Hittite country 
(§ 128 and map, p. 42). 

In the East, along the southern coasts of Asia Minor, Greek ex- 
pansion was stopped by the Assyrian Sennacherib (§77). In the 
South they met a friendly reception in Eg3^t. Here they founded 
a trading station in the Delta and colonized Cyrene (map, p. 100). 



The Age of the Nobles 103 

It was the unknown West, however, which became the America 
of the early Greek colonists. Looking westward from the western 
coast of Greece the seamen could discover the shores of the heel 
of Italy, only fifty miles distant. When they had once crossed 
to it, they coasted around Sicily and far into the West. Here 
was a new world. Although the Phoenicians were already there 
(§ 139), its discovery was as momentous for the Greeks as that 
of America for later Europe (see map, p. 100). 

By 750 B.C. their colonies appeared in this new Western 
world, and within a century they fringed southern Italy from 
the heel to a point well above the instep, north of Naples. Hence 
this region of southern Italy came to be known as " Great Greece " 
(see map, p. 192). As the Greeks were by this time superior in 
civilization to all the native dwellers in Italj^, the civilized history 
of that great peninsula begins with the settlement of the Greeks 
there. They were the first to bring into Italy such things as 
writing, literature, architecture, and art (§§ 298-301 and head- 
piece, p. 189). 

The Greek colonists also crossed over to fertile Sicily (plate, 
p. 106), where they drove out the Phoenician trading posts except 
at the western end of the island. Syracuse, at its southeast, be- 
came very soon the most cultivated, as well as the most powerful, 
city of the Greek world. At Massilia (Marseilles), on the coast 
of later France, the Western Greeks founded a town which con- 
trolled the trade up the Rhone valley. Thus, under the rule of 
the nobles, the Greeks expanded till their settlements stretched 
from the Black Sea along the north shore of the Mediterranean 
almost to the Atlantic. 

III. Greek Civilization in the Age of the Nobles 

154. Influences leading toward Greek Unity. We have al- 
ready noticed the tendencies which kept the Greek states apart 
(§ 147). There were now, on the other hand, influences which 
tended toward unity. Among such influences were the Greek 
contests in arms and their athletic games. There finally came 



104 History of Europe 

to be held at stated seasons in honor of the gods. As early as 
776 B.C. such contests were celebrated as public festivals at 
Olympia.^ Repeated every four years, they finally aroused the 
interest and participation of all Greece. 

Religion also became a strong influence toward unity, because 
there were some gods at whose temples all the Greeks worshiped. 
The different city-states therefore formed several religious coun- 
cils, made up of representatives from the various Greek cities 
concerned. They came together at stated periods, and in this 
way each city had a voice in such joint management of the 
temples. These councils were perhaps the nearest approach to 
representative government ever devised in the ancient world. 
The most notable of them were the council for the control of the 
Olympic games, another for the famous sanctuary of Apollo at 
Delphi (Fig. 38), and also the council for the great annual feast 
of Apollo in the island of Delos. 

These representatives spoke various Greek dialects at their 
meetings. They could understand each other, however, and their 
common language helped to bind together the people of the many 
different Greek cities. A sentiment of unity also arose under 
the influence of the Homeric songs (§ 143) with which every 
Greek was familiar — a common inheritance depicting all the 
Greeks united against the Asiatic city of Troy. 

155. Barbarians and Hellenes. Thus bound together by ties 
of custom, religion, language, and common traditions, the Greeks 
gained a feeling of race unity, which set them apart from other 
races. They called all men not of Greek blood " barbarians," but 
this was not originally a term of reproach for the non-Greeks. 
Then the Greek sense of unity found expression in the first all- 
inclusive term for themselves. They gradually came to call them- 
selves " Hellenes " and found pleasure in the belief that they had 
all descended from a common ancestor called Hellen. Connected 
with this word is also the name " Hellas," often applied to Greece, 
But it should be clearly understood that this new designation did 

1 Every schoolboy knows that these Olympic games have been revived in modem 
times as an international project. 



The Age of the Nobles 105 

not represent a Greek nation or state, but only the group of 
Greek-speaking peoples or states, often at war with one another. 
The most fatal defect in Greek character was the inability of 
the various states to forget their local differences and jealousies 
and to unite in a common federation or great nation including 
all Greeks.^ 

156. Architecture and Sculpture. In spite of oriental lux- 
uries, like gaudy clothing and rich tableware (§ 139), Greek life 
in the Age of the Nobles was still rude and simple. The Greek 
cities of which we have been talking were groups of dingy sun- 
dried-brick houses, with narrow wandering streets which we should 
call alleys. On the height where the palace or castle of the king had 
once stood was an oblong building of brick, like the houses of the 
town below. In front it had a porch with a row of wooden posts, 
and it was covered by a " peaked " roof with a triangular gable 
at each end. This rude building was the earliest Greek temple. 
As for sculpture in this age, the figure of a god consisted merely 
of a wooden post with a rough-hewn head at the top. When 
draped with a garment it could be made to serve its purpose. 

157. Rise of a New Literature. While there were still very 
few who could read, there was here and there a man who owned 
and read a written copy of Homer. The Greeks were beginning 
to think about human conduct. The old Greek word for virtue 
no longer meant merely valor in war but also kindly and unselfish 
conduct toward others. Duty toward a man's own country was 
now beginning to be felt in the sentiment we call patriotism. Right 
conduct, as it seemed to some, was even required by the gods. 

Under these circumstances it was natural that a new literature 
should arise, as the Greeks began to discuss themselves and their 
own conduct. The old Homeric singers never referred to them- 
selves ; they never spoke of their own lives. They were absorbed 
in describing the valiant deeds of their heroes who had died long 
before. Meanwhile the problems of their own present began to 

1 We may recall here how slow were the thirteen colonies of America to suppress 
local pride sufficiently to adopt a constitution uniting all thirteen into a nation. It was 
local differences similar to those among the Greeks which afterward caused our Civil War. 



io6 History of Europe 

press hard upon the minds of men ; the peasant farmer's distress- 
ing struggle for existence (see § 150) made men conscious of very 
present needs. Their own lives became a great and living theme. 

158. Hesiod and the Earliest Cry for Social Justice in Eu- 
rope (750-700 B.C.). The voices that once chanted the hero 
songs therefore died away, and now men heard the first voice 
raised in Europe on behalf of the poor and the humble. Hesiod, 
an obscure farmer, sang of the dreary and hopeless life of the 
peasant — of his own life as he struggled on under a burden too 
heavy for his shoulders. We even hear how his brother Persis 
seized the lands left by their father and then bribed the judges to 
confirm him in their possession. 

This was the earliest European protest against the injustices 
committed by the rich in wealthy town life. It was raised at 
the very moment when across the corner of the Mediterranean the 
once nomad Hebrews were passing through the same experience 
(see §§ 106-107). The voice of Hesiod raising the cry for social 
justice in Greece sounds like an echo from Palestine. But we 
should notice that in Palestine the cry for social justice finally 
resulted not in altered government but in a religion of brotherly 
kindness ; whereas in Greece it resulted in altered government, in 
democratic institutions, — the rule of the people who refused longer 
to submit to the oppressions of the few and powerful. In the 
next chapter we shall watch the progress of the struggle by which 
the rule of the people came about. 

159. Summary of the Age of the Nobles. At home the out- 
standing change in this age was the appearance of a noble class, 
produced largely by the incoming of landownership, with the 
result that the kings were overthrown and largely disappeared. 
In the eighth century B.C. a struggle between the nobles and 
the common people also began. At the same time the little Greek 
states showed no ability to suppress their differences and unite 
into a nation of all the Greeks. Abroad the Greeks of this age 
took to the sea and established colonies and new states along the 
entire northern coast of the Mediterranean from Asia Minor to 
the coast of later France (750-600 B.C.). 



The Age of the Nobles 



107 



QUESTIONS 

I. What geographical influences tended to prevent a union of all 
the Greeks ? What leading unions did take place ? Describe their 
situation. What is democracy ? Discuss the power of the Greek 
nobles. What was the situation of the peasants financially ? politically ? 
What happened to the Greek kings ? 

II. Discuss the rise of Greek sea trade. Trace the spread of Greek 
colonies. What can you say of this movement as a racial matteti? 
What racial contest arose ? 

III. Mention the several influences leading toward Greek unity. 
What names arose for Greeks and non-Greeks ? Discuss the architec- 
ture and sculpture of this age ; its hterature, especially Hesiod. What 
resulted from the discontent ot the poor ? 

Note. The buildings below are two Greek temples still standing at Passtum (Greek, 
Poseidonia), one of the early Greek colonies in Italy in the vicinity of Naples. The 
temple of Neptune (Poseidon), the finest of the group, is the best-preserved Greek 
temple outside of Attica. It was built in the Age of the Tyrants, not long before 500 B.C., 
and is one of the noblest examples of archaic Greek architecture (§ 175). 




CHAPTER VII 

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION AND THE AGE OF 
THE TYRANTS 

I. The Industrial and Commercial Revolution 

160. Growth of Greek Commerce and Industry. The remark- 
able spread of the Greek colonies, together with the growth of 
industries in the home cities, led to profound changes. The new 
colonies not only had needs of their own but they also had deal- 
ings with the inland, which finally opened up extensive regions 
of Europe as a market for Greek wares. The home cities at 
once began to meet this demand for goods of all sorts. The Ionian 
cities at first led the way as -formerly. Then the islands also, 
and finally the Greek mainland, especially Corinth and Athens, 
began to share in the growing Greek trade. Ere long the com- 
mercial fleets of Hellas were threading their way along all the 
coasts of the northern, western, and southeastern Mediterranean, 
bearing to distant communities Greek metal work, woven goods, 
and pottery. 

They brought back either raw materials and foodstuffs, such as 
grain, fish, and amber, or finished products like the magnificent 
utensils in bronze from the cities of the Etruscans in northern 
Italy (§298 and Fig. 53). At the yearly feast and market on 
the island of Delos the Greek householder found the Etruscan 
bronzes of the West side by side with the gay carpets of the Orient. 

To meet the increasing demands of trade the Greek craftsman 
was obliged to enlarge his small shop, once perhaps only large 
enough to supply the wants of a single estate. Unable to find 
the necessary workmen, the proprietor who had the means bought 
slaves and trained them to the work. He thus enlarged his little 
stall into a factory with a score of hands. Henceforth industrial 
slave labor became an important part of Greek life. 

108 



The Industrial Revolution 



109 



161. Expansion of Athenian Commerce. When Athens en- 
tered the field of industry she won victories not less decisive than 
her later triumphs in art, literature, philosophy, or war. Her 
factories must have grown to a size before quite unknown in 
the Greek world, until they filled a large quarter at Athens (see 
plan, p. 138). Their output is found in distant regions even to- 
day ; for the ancient peoples bought the beautiful Athenian vases 
to put in the tombs of 
their dead. There they 
are still found. It is very 
impressive to see the 
modern excavator opening 
tombs far toward the in- 
terior of Asia Minor and 
taking out vases bearing 
the signature of the same 
Athenian vase-painter 
whose name you may also 
read on vases dug out of 
the Nile Delta in north- 
ern Africa or taken from 
tombs in cemeteries of the 
Etruscan cities of Italy 

(Fig. 35). 

162. Improvement and 
Enlargement of Ships. 
Soon the Greek ship- 
builder, responding to the 

growing commerce, began to build craft far larger than the old 
"fifty-oar" galleys. The new "merchantmen" were driven by 
sails, an Egyptian invention of ages before. They were so large 
that they could no longer easily be drawn up on the strand as 
before. Hence sheltered harbors were necessary. 

The protection of these merchant ships demanded more effec- 
tive warships, and the distinction gradually arose between a " man- 
o'-war," or battleship, and a " merchantman." Corinth is credited 




Fig. 35. An Athenian Painted Vase 
OF THE Early Sixth Century b. c. 

This magnificent work (over thirty inches 
high) was found in an Etruscan tomb in 
Italy (see map, p. 192), whither it had been 
exported (§ 161) by the Athenian makers in 
the days of Solon 



no 



History oj Europe 



with producing the first decked warships, a great improvement, 
which gave the warriors above more room and better footing and 
protected the oarsmen below. For warships must be independent of 
the wind, and hence they were still driven by oars. The oarsmen 
were now arranged in three rows, and the power of an old " fifty- 
oar" thus multiplied by three without essentially increasing the 
ship's size. Battleships having the oars in three rows were called 
" triremes." These innovations were in common use by 500 b. c. 




Fig. 36. Specimens illustrating the Beginning of Coinage 



163. Adoption of Coinage by the Greeks (Early Seventh 
Century b.c). Meantime Greek business life had entered upon 
a new epoch, due to the introduction of coined money. Not long 
after 700 b.c. the kings of Lydia in Asia Minor, following oriental 
custom (§ 70), began to cut up silver into lumps of a fixed weight. 
These they stamped with some symbol of the king or State to 
show that the State guaranteed their value, and such pieces formed 
the earliest-known coins (Fig. 36). 

This great convenience was quickly adopted by the Greeks. 
Thus the Athenians began to use as their commonest coin a lump 
of silver weighing the hundredth part of a Babylonian mina (our 
pound). It was worth from eighteen to twenty cents. It still 
survives in large sections of Europe as the French jranc. The 



The Industrial Revolution 1 1 1 

Athenians called this coin a drachma. The purchasing power of 
a drachma was in such ancient times very much greater than in 
our day. For example, a sheep cost one drachma, an ox five 
drachma, and a landowner with an income of five hundred 
drachmas ($ioo) a year was considered a wealthy man. 

164. Rise of a Capitalistic Class. Greek wealth had formerly 
consisted of lands and flocks, but now men began to accumulate 
capital in money. Loans were made, and the use of interest came 
in from the Orient. The usual rate was i8 per cent yearly. Men 
who could never have hoped for wealth as farmers were now 
growing rich. There arose a prosperous industrial and commer- 
cial middle class which demanded a voice in the government. 
They soon became a political power of much influence, and the 
noble class were obliged to listen to them. At the beginning 
of the sixth century b.c. even a noble like Solon could say, 
"Money makes the man" (§ i68). 

II. Rise of the Democracy and the Age 
OF THE Tyrants 

165. Increased Power of the People. While a prosperous 
'' capitalistic " class was thus arising, the condition of the peasant 
on his lands grew steadily worse. But other enemies now op- 
posed the noble class. In the first place, the new men of fortune 
(§ 164) were bitterly hostile to the nobles; in the second place, 
the improvement in Greek industries had so cheapened all work 
in metal that it was possible for the ordinary man to purchase 
weapons and a suit of armor. This added to the importance of 
the ordinary citizen in the army and therefore greatly increased 
the power of the lower classes in the State. 

166. Disunion among Nobles and Rise of Tyrants. At the 
same time the nobles were far from united. Serious feuds be- 
tween the various noble families often divided them into hostile 
factions. The leader of a faction among the nobles often placed 
himself at the head of the dissatisfied people in real or feigned 
sympathy with their cause. Thus supported, he was able to 



112 History oj Europe 

overcome and expel his rivals among the noble class and to gain 
undisputed control of the State. In this way he became the ruler 
of the State. 

Such a ruler was in reality a king ; but the new king differed 
from the kings of old in that he had no royal ancestors and had 
seized the control of the State by violence. The people did not 
reverence him as of ancient royal lineage. His position always 
remained insecure. The Greeks called such a man a "tyrant," 
which was not at that time a term of reproach as it is with us. 
Nevertheless, the instinctive feeling of the Greeks was that they 
were no longer free under a prince of this kind, and the slayer of 
a " tyrant " was regarded as a hero and savior of the people. In 
spite of public opinion about the tyrants, they were the first 
champions of democracy. Many of them looked after the rights 
of the people and gave much attention to public monuments, art, 
music, and Hterature. By 650 B.C. such rulers had begun to 
appear, but it was especially the sixth century (from 600 to 
500 B.C.) which we may call the Age of the Tyrants. 

167. Earliest Written Greek Codes of Law. Hitherto all 
law, so long ago reduced to writing in the Orient (Fig. 24), had 
been a matter of oral tradition in Greece. It was very easy for 
a judge to twist oral law to favor the man who gave him the 
largest present (§ 158). The people were now demanding that 
the inherited oral laws be put into writing (see Ancient Times, 
Fig. 166). After a long struggle the Athenians secured such a 
written code, arranged by a man named Draco, about 624 B.C. 
It was an exceedingly severe code — so severe, in fact, that the 
adjective "Draconic" has passed into our language as a synonym 
for "harsh." 

168. Solon's Reforms. But writing down the law did not 
meet all needs nor quiet unrest in Athens, and in 594 B.C. a noble 
named Solon was chosen as archon (§ 151). He was given full 
power to improve the evil condition of the peasants. He declared 
void all mortgages on land and all claims of creditors which en- 
dangered the liberty of a citizen, and he set a limit to the amount 
of land which a noble might hold. 



The Industrial Revolution 113 

Solon also made a law that anyone who, like Hesiod (§ 158), 
had lost a lawsuit could appeal the case to a jury of citizens 
over thirty years of age selected by lot. This change and some 
others greatly improved a citizen's chance of securing justice. 
Solon's laws were all written, and they formed the first Greek 
code of laws by which all free men were given equal rights in 
the courts. Some of these laws have descended to our own time 
and are still in force. 

Furthermore, Solon proclaimed a new constitution which gave 
to all a voice in the control of the State. It made but few 
changes. It recognized four classes of citizens, graded according 
to the amount of their income. The wealthy nobles were the 
only ones who could hold the highest offices, and the peasants 
were permitted to hold only the lower offices. The government 
thus remained in the hands of the nobles, but the humblest free 
citizen could now be assured of the right to vote in the assembly 
of the people. 

Solon was the earliest great Greek statesman about whom we 
have reliable information. The leading trait of his character was 
moderation, combined with unfailing decision. When all expected 
that he would make himself "tyrant" he laid down his expiring 
archonship without a moment's hesitation and left Athens for 
several years, to give his constitution a fair chance to work. 

169. Pisistratus, Tyrant of Athens (540-528 B.C.), and his 
Sons. Nevertheless, Pisistratus, a member of one of the powerful 
noble families, finally gained control of the Athenian State as 
tyrant. He ruled with great sagacity and success, and many of 
the Athenians gave him sincere support. Athenian manufactures 
and commerce flourished as never before, and when Pisistratus 
died (in the same year as Cyrus the Persian, 528 B.C.) he had 
laid a foundation to which much of the later greatness of Athens 
was due. 

170. Fall of the Sons of Pisistratus. In spite of their great 
ability, the sons of Pisistratus, Hipparchus and Hippias, were 
unable to overcome the prejudice of the Athenians against a ruler 
on whom the people had not conferred authority. One of the 



114 History oj Europe 

earliest exhibitions of Greek patriotism is the outburst of en- 
thusiasm at Athens when two youths, Harmodius and Aristogiton 
(Fig. 37), at the sacrifice of their own lives, struck down one of 
the tyrants (Hipparchus). Hippias, the other one, was eventually 
obliged to flee. Thus, shortly before 500 b.c, Athens was freed 
from her tyrants. 

171. The Reforms of Clisthenes. The people were now able 
to gain new power against the nobles by the efforts of Clisthenes, 
a noble friendly to the lower classes. He broke up the old tribal 
divisions on the basis of blood relationship and established purely 
local lines of division. He thus cut up the old noble clans and 
assigned the fragments to different local divisions, where the 
nobles would be in the minority. This prevented them from act- 
ing together and broke their power. 

In order to avoid the rise of a new tyrant, Clisthenes estab- 
lished a law that once a year the people might by vote declare 
any prominent citizen dangerous to the State and banish him 
for ten years. To cast his vote against a man, a citizen had 
only to pick up one of the pieces of broken pottery lying about 
the market place, write upon it the name of the citizen to be 
banished, and deposit it in the voting urn. Such a bit of pottery 
was called an "ostracon" (tailpiece, p. 120), and to "ostracize" 
a man (literally to "potsherd" him) meant to banish him. By 
these and other means Athens had (about 500 B.C.) gained a form 
of government giving the people a high degree of power. 

172. Expansion of Sparta. Meantime Sparta also had greatly 
increased in power. Long before 500 b.c. the Spartans had forced 
the neighboring states into a combination, called the "Spartan 
League," which included nearly the whole of the Peloponnese. 
As the leader of this league Sparta was the most powerful state in 
Greece. It had no industries, and it therefore did not possess the 
prosperous commercial class which had elsewhere done so much 
to overthrow the nobles and bring about the rise of the tyrants. 
Sparta was also opposed to the rule of the people and looked with 
a jealous eye on the rising democracy of Athens. 



The Industrial Revolution 115 

III. Civilization in the Age of the Tyrants 

173. The Nobles as the Social Leaders. In spite of the grow- 
ing power of the people the nobles continued to be the leaders, 
especially in all those matters which we call social. They created 
the social life of the time, and they were the prominent figures on 
all public occasions. The multitudes which thronged to the public 
games looked down upon the best-born youths of Greece contesting 
for the prizes in the athletic matches (§ 154), and the wealthier 
nobles put the swiftest horses into the chariot races. 

Although noble youths might be found spending the larger 
part of the day practicing in the public inclosure devoted to 
athletic exercises, yet they usually also learned to write. It was 
in the Age of the Tyrants that the music of Greece rose to the 
level of a real art. A system of writing musical notes, meaning 
for music what the alphabet meant for literature, now arose 
(Fig. 44, B). The flute and the lyre were the favorite instru- 
ments, either of which might be played as the accompaniment 
of song, or both together, with choruses of boys and girls. 

174. Literature, Music, and the Drama. Music had a great 
influence on the literature of the age, for the poets now began 
to write verses to be sung to the music of the lyre. Therefore such 
verses are called "lyric" poetry. The poets now put into songs 
their momentary moods, longings, dreams, hopes, and fiery storms 
of passion. Each in his way found a wondrous world within him- 
self, which he thus pictured in short songs. Probably the greatest 
of these poets was Pindar of Thebes (see Ancient Times, § 482). 
Another great lyric singer of the age was the poetess Sappho, the 
earliest woman to gain undying fame in literature. 

Another favorite form of song was the ''chorus," with which 
the country folk loved to celebrate their rustic feasts. The singers 
as they marched in rustic procession wore goatskins, and their 
faces were concealed by masks. Some of the songs were sung 
responsively by the chorus and their leader. For the diversion 
of the listening peasants the leader would illustrate with gestures 
the story told in the song. He thus became to some extent an 



ii6 



History of Europe 



actor, the forerunner of the actors on our own stage. When a 
second leader was introduced, dialogue between the two was pos- 
sible, though the chorus continued to recite most of the narrative. 
Thus arose a form of musical play, or drama, the action and 
narrative of which were carried on by the chorus and two actors. 
The Greeks called such a play a tragedy, which means " goat's 




^^^I^^^^^^^^^^^^^^iBL 




^^^^^^^^^SfiSoB^' sS 


I '^H 


wSBB^SSmmSXTniS '^ ,jS 


I^^^W^H^^H 



Fig. 37. Monument of the Tyrant Slayers of Athens, Harmo- 

Dius and Aristogiton 

On the slopes of the Areopagus (see plan, p. 138, and Fig. 43), overlooking 
the market place, the Athenians set up this group, depicting at the moment 
of attack the two heroic youths who lost their lives in an attempt to slay the 
two sons of Pisistratus and to free Athens from the two tyrants (514 B.C., § 170). 
Our illustration is an ancient copy in marble, the lost original having 

been made of bronze 



play," perhaps because of the rustic disguise as goats which the 
chorus had always worn. These out-of-door feasts furnished the 
beginnings of the Greek theater (see Fig. 46). 

175. Architecture. The tyrants were so devoted to building 
that architecture made very important advances. The older rough 
Greek temples of sun-dried brick (§ 156) were rebuilt in limestone 
by the tyrants. At no other time before or since were so many 
temples erected as in the Greek world in the Age of the Tyrants. 
In Sicily and southern Italy a number of the noble temples of 



The Industrial Revolution 117 

this age still stand, to display to us the beauty and simplicity of 
Greek architecture when it was still at an undeveloped stage 
(tailpiece, p. 107). Instead of the wooden posts of the Age of 
the Nobles (§ 156), these temples were surrounded by lines of 
stone columns (colonnades) in a style called Doric (see Fig. 44, 
A and B). The idea of these columns was derived from Egypt 
(see Ancient Times, Fig. 167). Like those on the Nile, these 
Greek temples were also painted in bright colors. 

176. Sculpture and Painting. Sculpture also made great 
progress. Moved by patriotic impulses the Athenian sculptors 
now wrought a wonderful monument for the market place of 
Athens. It was a memorial group of two bronze statues (Fig. 37), 
representing the two heroic youths who endeavored to free Athens 
from the sons of Pisistratus (§ 170). The work showed re- 
markable progress in ability to represent the human body in free 
and vigorous action. Similar progress was made by the painters 
of the age. Their painted vases are a wonderful treasury of beauti- 
ful scenes from Greek life (tailpiece, p. 149). 

177. Growing Sense of Right and Wrong. Literature and 
painting show us that the Greeks of this age were intensely in- 
terested in the life of their own time. In the first place, they 
were thinking more deeply than ever before about conduct, and 
they were better able to distinguish between right and wrong. Men 
now felt that even Zeus and his Olympian divinities must do the 
right. Mortals too must do the same, for men had now come to 
believe that in the world of the dead there was punishment for 
the evildoer. 

Likewise it was believed that there must be a place of blessed- 
ness for the good in the next world. Accordingly, in the temple 
at Eleusis scenes from the mysterious earth life of Demeter and 
Dionysus, to whom men owed the fruits of the earth, were pre- 
sented by the priests in dramatic form before the initiated. Anyone 
who viewed these "mysteries," as they were called, received im- 
mortal life and might be admitted into the Islands of the Blessed. 

178. Thales and the Prediction of a Solar Eclipse (585 b.c). 
On the other hand, some thoughtful men were rejecting many 



ii8 History of Europe 

old beliefs, especially regarding the world and its control by 
the gods. At Miletus, the leader of the Ionian cities, there was 
an able statesman named Thales, who had traveled widely and 
received from Babylonia a list of observations of the heavenly 
bodies. With these lists in his hands Thales could calculate when 
the next eclipse would occur. He therefore told the people of 
Miletus that they might expect an eclipse of the sun before the 
end of a certain year. When the promised eclipse (585 B.C.) 
actually occurred as he had predicted, the fame of Thales spread 
far and wide. 

The prediction of an eclipse, a feat already accomplished by 
the Babylonians (§ 87), was not so important as the consequences 
which followed in the mind of Thales. Hitherto men had believed 
that eclipses and all the other strange things that happened in 
the skies were caused by the momentary angry whim of some 
god. Now, however, Thales boldly proclaimed that the move- 
ments of the heavenly bodies were in accordance with fixed laws. 
Other Ionian Greeks like Thales, especially Pythagoras, studied 
mathematics and the physics of musical tones. They wrote the 
first geographies, and one of them discovered that the earth is a 
sphere. They therefore became the forerunners of natural 
scientists and philosophers. They had entered what was for them 
a new world, — the world of science and philosophy, a world 
which the greatest minds of the early Orient had not discovered. 
This step, taken by Thales and the great men of the Ionian cities, 
remains and will forever remain the greatest achievement of the 
human intellect. 

179. Summary and End of the Age of the Tyrants. The 
Age of the Tyrants was therefore one of the great epochs of the 
world's history, when the Greeks overtook and passed the Orient 
in civilization.^ It saw the rise of manufactures among the Greeks, 
the spread of their commerce, the introduction of coinage, and 
the resulting appearance of wealthy business men. A new middle 
class, thus created, aided in overturning the nobles, and the world's 

1 A fuller account of the remarkable civiluation of this age will be found in Ancient 
Times, §§ 479-496. 




w 
< 

■A 
O 

H 

I 

J 
o 

o 

Hi 

w 



W 
as 
o 

H 

c« 
W 

5 

J 
w 

Q 

b 

O 

o 

c 

fQ 

W 
X 



00 

d 



aj u i- 



o 



4; 



*j O V, 



XI C 

-o S 

be "5 
C « 

2 -« 



c .S 



rt 






en 

u ex o 

O g u 

*" .52 '£ 



^1 



.:s o 03 



T3 



21 c lu 



'35 



3 

3 •- 



C 






rt -^ .3 
to _ w 

- ° -c 

g O <U 
O CI. <u 

OS <u 

c -o is 
1^ - 

4) o 

1) ^ 






5P§6 



be 

c 



s 



U li b£ 



T3 

'^ y, 

<u be S' 

t! -M ti 

3 c« rt 

" 1) -K 

o S; « 

c <u J3 

■" -^ T3 



XI o 



TJ I- 



o *: 
a 

j^ M <u 

" <u <u 



- °3 



tn "o "5 



tn (J 

X 2 -a 

-" O rt 

^ « c 

K X _0 

^ !3 " 

I ^ ^ 

C XI (u 

x: " 

c E Ji 

> o 

'^ « Ji 



0^ ^ 

£ o 

Odd 
u X > 
•a _, 
"o 



_y T) ■" ^ 



M 



X 

be 



be H 
c 



C4 

T5 



M tn Ji 

« U 2 

X C o 

■" be 3 

5 o ,. 

be >», i^ 

c S rt 

be -73 tn 

w e « 



; ^^ bo 
>- o 

& ^ o 

o| g 

- §^ 

« O 



ii be 

4J C 

»5 O 

w o 

n! " 

>^'n 

g i3 



120 History of Europe 

earliest democracies began. As a group the leaders of this age, 
many of them tyrants, made lasting impression, and they were 
called " the Seven Wise Men." They were the earliest statesmen 
and thinkers of Greece. The people loved to quote their sayings, 
such as "Know thyself," a proverb which was carved over the 
door of the Apollo temple at Delphi (Fig. 38) ; or Solon's wise 
maxim " Overdo nothing." After the fall of the sons of Pisistra- 
tus, however, the tyrants were disappearing, and although a tyrant 
here and there survived, especially in Asia Minor and Sicily, 
Greece thereupon passed out of the Age of the Tyrants (about 
500 B.C.). 

QUESTIONS 

I. How did the new colonies of the Greeks influence manufacturing 
at home ? What can you tell of commerce and manufactures ? Discuss 
the effect upon shipbuilding. How did coinage arise ? How did it affect 
business and the accumulation of wealth ? What new class arose ? 

n. How did the Greek farmer now fare as to wealth ? in military 
and political power ? How did the Greeks regard tyrants ? What 
law code was made at Athens ? What did Solon accomplish ? What 
did Pisistratus and his sons do ? How did Clisthenes aid the people ? 

in. Describe the social position of the nobles. What can you say 
of education in this age ? Who were the leading lyric poets ? How did 
festal choruses lead to drama ? In what style of architecture were the 
temples now erected ? What progress does the monument of the tyrant 
slayers show ? What progress was made in ideas of conduct ? What 
did Thales do? What can you say of the Age of the Tyrants as a 
whole ? 

Note. This tailpiece shows the name of Themistocles scratched on a fragment of 
pottery (psiracon, § 171) by some citizen probably in 472 B.C. 




CHAPTER VIII 

THE REPULSE OF PERSIA AND THE RISE OF THE 
ATHENIAN EMPIRE 

I. The Coming of the Persians 

180. The Persian Advance to the JEgean (456 B.C.). In 
order to understand the coming chapters in the story of Greece 
we must now recall that in the middle of the Age of the Tyrants 
Cyrus the Persian marched westward to the ^gean (§97). The 
vast Persian Empire which he founded thus became a close 
neighbor of the Greeks directly on their east in Asia Minor. In 
the midst of their remarkable progress in civilization (§§ 173- 
179), the Ionian Greek cities of Asia Minor suddenly lost their 
liberty and actually became subjects of Persia. 

As we have already learned, the Persians represented a high 
civilization and an enlightened rule ; but Persian supremacy in 
Greece would nevertheless have seriously checked the advance 
of the Greeks in civilization. There seemed little prospect that 
the tiny Greek states, even if they united, could successfully 
resist the vast oriental empire, controlling as it did all the coun- 
tries of the ancient East, which we have been studying. Never- 
theless the Ionian cities revolted against their Persian lords. 

181. First Persian Invasion of Europe. During the struggle 
with Persia which followed this revolt the Athenians sent twenty 
ships to aid their Ionian kindred. This act brought a Persian 
army of revenge, under Darius, into Europe. The long march 
of the Persians across the Hellespont and through Thrace cost 
them many men, and the fleet which accompanied the Persian 
advance was wrecked in trying to round the high promontory 
of Mount Athos (492 b.c). This advance into Greece was there- 
fore abandoned for a plan of invasion by water across the .^gean. 

121 



122 History of Europe 

182. Second Persian Invasion. In the early summer of 490 
B.C. a considerable fleet of transports and warships bearing the 
Persian host put out from the, island of Samos, sailed straight 
across the JEgean, and entered the straits between Eubcea and 
Attica (see map, p. 90). The Persians finally landed on the 
shores of Attica, in the Bay of Marathon (see map, p. 138), in- 
tending to march on Athens. 

All was excitement and confusion among the Greek states. The 
defeat of the revolting Ionian cities, and especially the Persian 
sack of Miletus, had made a deep impression throughout Greece. 
Now this Persian foe who had crushed the Ionian cities was 
camping behind the hills only a few miles northeast of Athens. 
After dispatching messengers in desperate haste to seek aid in 
Sparta the Athenian citizens turned to contemplate the seemingly 
hopeless situation of their beloved city. 

183. The Armies and Greek Leadership. Thinking to find 
the Athenians unprepared, Darius had not sent a large army. 
The Persian forces probably numbered no more than twenty thou- 
sand men, but at the utmost the Athenians could not put more 
than half this number into the field. Fortunately for them there 
was among their generals a skilled commander named Miltiades. 
As the citizen-soldiers of Attica flocked to the city at the call 
to arms, Miltiades was able to induce the leaders not to await 
the assault of the Persians at Athens but to march across the 
peninsula (see map, p. 138) and block the Persian advance among 
the hills overlooking the eastern coast and commanding the toad 
to the city. This bold and resolute move roused courage and 
enthusiasm in the downcast ranks of the Greeks. 

Nevertheless, when they issued between the hills and looked 
down upon the Persian host encamped upon the Plain of Mara- 
thon, flanked by a fleet of hundreds of vessels, misgiving and 
despair chilled the hearts of the little Attic army. But Miltiades 
held the leaders firmly in hand, and the arrival of a thousand 
Greeks from Plataea revived the courage of the Athenians. 

184. The Battle of Marathon (490 B.C.). Unable to lure 
the Greeks from their advantageous position, the Persians, after 



The Repulse of Persia 



123 



several days' waiting, at length attempted to march along the 
road to Athens. Miltiades was familiar with the Persian custom 
of massing troops in the center. He therefore massed his own troops 
on both wings, leaving his center weak. It was a battle between 
bow and spear. The Athenians undauntedly faced the storm of 
Persian arrows (see § 97), and then both wings pushed boldly 




Fig. 39. Mound raised as a Monument to the Fallen Greeks 

AT Marathon 

The mound is nearly fifty feet high. Excavations undertaken in 1890 dis- 
closed beneath it the bodies of the one hundred and ninety-two Athenian 
citizens who fell in the battle (§ 184). Some of their weapons and the funeral 
vases buried with them were also recovered and are now in the National 

Museum at Athens 



forward to the line of shields behind which the Persian archers 
were kneeling. In the meantime the Persian center, finding the 
Greek center weak, had pushed it back, while the two Greek wings 
closed in on either side and thrust back the Persian wings in 
confusion. The Asiatic army crumbled into a broken multitude 
between the two advancing lines of the Greek wings. The Per- 
sian bow was useless, and the Greek spear everywhere spread 
death and terror. As the Persians fled to their ships they left 



124 History of Europe 

over six thousand dead upon the field, while the Athenians lost less 
than two hundred men (Fig. 39). When the Persian commander 
sailed around the Attic peninsula and appeared with his fleet before 
the port of Athens, he found it unwise to attempt a landing, for 
the victorious Athenian army was already encamped beside the city. 

II. The Greek Repulse of Persians 

AND PhCENICIANS 

185. Rise of Themistocles. Among the men who stood in 
the Athenian ranks at Marathon was Themistocles, the ablest 
statesman in Greece, a man who had already occupied the office 
of archon, the head of the Athenian state. He was convinced of 
the necessity of building up a strong navy, and as archon he 
had therefore striven to show the Athenians that the only way 
in which Athens could hope to meet the assault of Persia was by 
making herself undisputed mistress of the sea. He had failed in 
his effort. But now the Athenians had seen the Persians cross 
the ^gean with their fleet and land at Marathon. It was evident 
that a powerful Athenian navy might have stopped them. The 
Athenians therefore began to listen to the counsels of Themis- 
tocles to make Athens the great sea power of the Mediterranean. 

186. Accession of Xerxes ; Leadership and Plans of Themis- 
tocles. Darius the Great, whose remarkable reign we have 
studied (§§ loo-ioi), died without having avenged the defeat 
of his. army at Marathon. His son and successor, Xerxes, 
therefore took up the unfinished task. The Greeks made ready 
to meet the new Persian assault. They soon saw that Xerxes' 
commanders were cutting a canal behind the promontory of 
Athos, to secure a short cut and thus to avoid all risk of such 
a wreck as had overtaken their former fleet in rounding this 
dangerous point. When the news of this operation reached Athens 
Themistocles was at last able to induce the Athenian Assembly 
to build a great fleet of probably a hundred and eighty triremes 
(§162). The Greeks were then able for the first time to meet 
the Persian advance by both sea and land. 



The Repulse of Persia 125 

Themistocles' masterly plan of campaign corresponded exactly 
to the plan of the Persian advance. The Asiatics were coming in 
combined land and sea array, with army and fleet moving near 
together down the east coast of the Greek mainland. The design 
of Themistocles was to meet the Persian fleet first, with full force, 
and fight a decisive naval battle as soon as possible. If victorious 
the Greek fleet commanding the ^gean would then be able to sail 
up the eastern coast of Greece and threaten the communications 
and supplies of the Persian army. There must be no attempt 
of the small Greek army to meet the vast land forces of the 
Persians, beyond delaying them as long as possible at the narrow 
northern passes, which could be defended with a few men. An 
effort to unite all the Greek states against the Persian invasion 
was not successful. Indeed, Themistocles was able to induce the 
Spartans to unite with Athens and to accept his plan only on 
condition that Sparta be given command of the allied Greek fleets. 

187. Battles of Thermopylae and Artemisium. In the sum- 
mer of 480 B.C. the Asiatic army was approaching the pass of 
Thermopylae, just opposite the westernmost point of the island 
of Euboea (see map, p. 138). Their fleet moved with them. The 
Asiatic host must have numbered over two hundred thousand men, 
with probably as many more camp followers, while the enormous 
fleet contained presumably about a thousand vessels, of which 
perhaps two thirds were warships. Of the latter the Persians lost a 
hundred or two in a storm, leaving probably about five hundred 
warships available for action. The Spartan king Leonidas led 
some five thousand men to check the Persians at the pass of 
Thermopylae, while the Greek fleet of less than three hundred 
triremes was endeavoring to hold together and strike the Persian 
navy at Artemisium, on the northern coast of Euboea. Thus the 
land and sea forces of both contestants were face to face. 

After several days' delay the Persians advanced to attack on 
both land and sea. The Greek fleet made a skillful and credit- 
able defense against superior numbers, and all day the daunt- 
less Leonidas held the pass of Thermopylae against the Persian 
host. Meantime the Persians were executing two flank movements 



126 History oj Europe 

by land and by sea — one over the mountains to strike Leonidas 
in the rear, and the other with two hundred ships around 
the island of Euboea to take the Greek fleet likewise from 
behind. A storm destroyed the flanking Persian ships, and a 
second combat between, the two main fleets was indecisive. 
The flank movement by sea therefore failed ; but the flanking of 
the pass was successful. Taken in front and rear, the heroic 
Leonidas died fighting at the head of his small force, which the 
Persian host completely annihilated. The death of Leonidas 
stirred all Greece. With the defeat of the Greek land forces 
and the advance of the Persian army the Greek fleet, seri- 
ously damaged, was obliged to withdraw to the south. It took 
up its position in the Bay of Salamis (see map, p. 138, and 
Fig. 40), while the main army of the Spartans and their allies 
was drawn up on the Isthmus of Corinth, the only point at which 
the Greek land forces could hope to make another defensive stand. 

188. Persians invade Attica and burn Athens. As the Per- 
sian army moved southward from Thermopylae the undaunted 
Themistocles gathered together the Athenian population and car- 
ried them in transports to the little islands of Salamis and ^gina 
and the shores of Argolis (see map, p. 138, and plate, p. 84). 
Meantime the Greek fleet had been repaired and, with reenforce- 
ments, numbered over three hundred battleships. Nevertheless 
the courage of many Greeks at Salamis was shaken as they looked 
northward, where the far-stretching Persian host darkened the 
coast road, while in the south they could see the Asiatic fleet 
drawn up off the old port of Athens at Phalerum (see map, p. 138). 
High over the Attic hills the flames of the burning Acropolis 
showed red against the somber masses of smoke that obscured the 
eastern horizon and told them that the homes of the Athenians 
lay in ashes. With masterly skill Themistocles held together the 
irresolute Greek leaders, while he induced Xerxes to attack by 
means of a false message that the Greek fleet was about to slip 
out of the bay. 

189. Battle of Salamis (48o b.c). On the heights overlooking 
the Bay of Salamis the Persian king, seated on his throne, in 



The Repulse of Persia 



127 



the midst of his briUiant oriental court, took up his station to 
watch the battle. The Greek position between the jutting head- 
lands of Salamis and the Attic mainland (see map, p. 138, and 
Fig. 40) was too cramped for the maneuvers of a large fleet. 
Crowded by the narrow sea room the huge Asiatic fleet soon fell 




Fig. 40. PiR/Eus, the Port of Athens, and the Strait and 

Island of Salamis 

The view shows the very modern houses and buildings of this flourish- 
ing harbor town of Athens (see map, p. 138). The mountains in the back- 
ground are the heights of the island of Salamis, which extends also far over 
to the right (north), opposite Eleusis (see map, p. 138). The four steamers 
at the right are lying at the place where the hottest fighting in the great 
naval battle here (§ 189) took place. The Persian fleet advanced from 
the left (south) and could not spread out in a long front to enfold the 
Greek fleet because of the little island just beyond the four steamers, which 
was called Psyttaleia. The Greek fleet lying behind Psyttaleia and a long 
point of Salamis came into action from the right (north), around Psyttaleia. 
A body of Persian troops stationed by Xerxes on Psyttaleia were all 

slain by the Greeks 

into confusion before the Greek attack. There was no room for 
retreat. The combat lasted the entire day, and when darkness 
settled on the Bay of Salamis the Persian fleet had been almost 
annihilated. The Athenians were masters of the sea, and it was 
impossible for the army of Xerxes to operate with the same 



128 History oj Europe 

freedom as before. By the creation of its powerful fleet Athens 
had saved Greece, and Themistocles had shown himself the great- 
est of Greek statesmen. 

190. Retreat of Xerxes in the East ; Defeat of Carthage 
in the West. Xerxes was now troubled lest he should be cut off 
from Asia by the victorious Greek fleet. Indeed, Themistocles 
made every effort to induce Sparta to join with Athens in doing 
this very thing, but the cautious Spartans could not be prevailed 
upon to undertake what seemed to them so dangerous an enter- 
prise. With many losses from disease and insufficient supplies 
Xerxes retreated to the Hellespont and withdrew into Asia, leav- 
ing his able general Mardonius with an army of perhaps fifty 
thousand men to winter in Thessaly. Meantime the news reached 
Greece that the army of Carthage, which Xerxes had induced 
to cross from Africa to Sicily, had been completely defeated by 
the Greeks under the leadership of Syracuse. Thus the assault 
oj the Asiatics upon the Hellenic wortd was beaten back in both 
East and West in the same year (480 B.C.). 

191. Reaction against Themistocles. The brilliant statesman- 
ship of Themistocles, so evident to us of to-day, was not so clear 
to the Athenians as the winter passed and they realized that the 
victory at Salamis had not relieved Greece of the presence of a 
Persian army. It was evident that Mardonius would invade 
Attica with the coming of spring. Themistocles was removed from 
command by the factions of his ungrateful city. Nevertheless 
the most tempting offers from Mardonius could not induce the 
Athenians to forsake the cause of Greek liberty. 

192. Final Defeat of Persia at Plataea (479 B.C.) and by 
Sea. As Mardonius in spring led his army again into Attica, the 
Athenians were again obliged to flee, this time chiefly to Salamis. 
Sparta, always reluctant and slow in a crisis, was finally induced 
to put her army into the field. When Mardonius saw the Spartan 
king Pausanias advancing through the Corinthian Isthmus he 
withdrew from Attica, having laid it waste a second time. With 
the united armies of Sparta, Athens, and other allies — some thirty 
thousand heavy-armed men — Pausanias followed Mardonius into 



The Repulse of Persia 129 

Boeotia. The armies met at Platsea. When Mardonius led his 
archers forward, and the Persians kneeling behind their line 
of shields rained deadly volleys of arrows into the compact 
Greek lines, the Hellenes never flinched, although their comrades 
were falling on every hand. With the gaps closed up the massive 
Greek lines pushed through the rows of Persian shields, and, as at 
Marathon, the spear proved victorious over the bow. In a heroic 
effort to rally his broken lines Mardonius himself fell. The Per- 
sian cavalry covered the rear of the flying Asiatic army and saved 
it from destruction. 

Not only European Greece but Ionia too was saved from 
Asiatic despotism. For the Greek triremes crossed over to Asia 
Minor and drove out or destroyed the remnants of the Persian 
fleet. The Athenians now also seized the Hellespont and thus 
held the crossing from Asia into Europe. Thus the grandsons of 
the Greeks who had seen Persia advance to the .^gean (§97) 
blocked her further progress in the West and thrust her back from 
Europe. Indeed, no Persian army ever set foot in European 
Greece again. 

III. The Rivalry with Sparta and the Rise of 
THE Athenian Empire 

193. Rivalry of Athens and Sparta. As the Athenians re- 
turned to look out over the ashes of what was once Athens, amid 
which rose the smoke-blackened heights of the naked Acropolis 
( Fig. 43 ) , they began to realize the greatness of their deliverance 
and the magnitude of their victory. With the not too ready help 
of Sparta they had crushed the ancient power of Asia. They felt 
themselves masters of the world. The past seemed narrow and 
limited. A new and greater Athens dawned upon their vision. 

This was all very different from the feeling of the stolid 
Spartans, whose whole State formed merely a military machine. 
Sparta was little more than a large military club or camp.^ Living 

1 For a fuller account of the interesting life of the Spartan military class see Ancient 
Times, §§ 520-521. 



130 History of Europe 

in a group of straggling villages unworthy to be called a city, 
greatly attached to their own old customs, still using only iron 
money, and refusing to build a wall around their city, the old- 
fashioned Spartans looked with misgivings upon the larger world 
which was opening to Greek life. Although they desired to lead 
Greece in military power, they shrank from assuming the re- 
sponsibilities of leadership. They represented the past and the 
privileges of the few (Fig. 41). 

Athens, on the other hand, represented the future and the rights 
of the many. Thus Greece fell into two camps as it were : Sparta, 
the home of tradition and privileges granted only to the military 
class ; Athens, the champion of progress and the leadership of 
the people. And thus the sentiment of union born in the common 
struggle for liberty, which might have united the Hellenes into 
one Greek nation, was followed by an unquenchable rivalry be- 
tween these two leading states, which went on for another century 
and finally cost the Greeks the leadership of the ancient world. 

194. Themistocles, his Fortification of Athens ; the Athe- 
nian Fleet. Themistocles was now the soul of Athens and her 
policy of progress and expansion. He determined that Athens 
should no longer follow Sparta. He cleverly hoodwinked the 
Spartans and despite their obligations completed the erection 
of strong walls around a new and larger Athens. At the same 
time he fortified the Piraeus, the Athenian port (see map, p. 138, 
and Fig. 40). When the Spartans, after the repulse of Persia, 
relinquished the command of the combined Greek fleets, the 
great Athenian navy, his own creation, was master of the ^gean. 

195. Aristides and the Establishment of the Delian League 
(478-477 B.C.). As the Greek cities of Asia still feared the 
vengeance of the Persian king, it was easy for the Athenians to 
form a permanent defensive league with the cities of their Greek 
kindred in Asia and the .^gean islands. The wealthier of these 
cities contributed ships, while others paid a sum of money each 
year into the treasury of the league. Athens was to have com- 
mand of the combined fleet and collect the money. She placed in 
charge of the important task of adjusting all contributions of the 
league and collecting the tribute money a patriotic citizen named 



The Repulse of Persia 



131 



Aristides, who had distinguished himself at Salamis and Plataea. 
His friends called him "the Just" because of his honesty. Al- 
though he had formerly opposed Themistocles' naval plans, he 






^''^\ 



-j^^ „?-'A«»''-" 













Fig. 41. The Plain where oxce Sparta stood 

Olive groves now grow where the Spartans had their houses. The town was 
not walled until long after the days of Spartan and Greek power were over. 
From the mountains (nearly eight thousand feet high) behind the plain the 
visitor can see northeastward far beyond Athens and one hundred and twenty- 
five miles southward to the island of Crete 



now did important service in vigorously aiding to establish the 
new naval league. The funds he collected were placed for pro- 
tection in the temple of Apollo, on the little island of Delos. 
This new federation was known as the Delian League. It was 
completed within three years after Salamis. The transformation 



132 History of Europe 

of such a league into an empire (§48), made up of states subject 
to Athens, could be foreseen as a very easy step. All this was 
therefore viewed with increasing jealousy and distrust by Sparta. 

196. Rise of Cimon. Under the leadership of Cimon, the son of 
Miltiades (the hero of Marathon), the fleet of the League now 
drove the Persians out of the region of the Hellespont entirely. 
Cimon did not understand the importance of Athenian leadership 
in Greece, but favored a policy of friendship and alliance with 
Sparta. Hence political conflict arose at Athens over this ques- 
tion. Noble and wealthy and old-fashioned folk favored Cimon 
and friendship with Sparta, but progressive and modern Athenians 
followed Themistocles and his anti-Spartan plans. 

197. Fall of Themistocles (472-471 B.C.). Themistocles was 
unable to win a majority of the Assembly ; he was ostracized 
(tailpiece, p. 120), and at length, on false charges of treason, he 
was condemned and obliged to flee for his life. The greatest 
statesman in Athenian history spent the rest of his life in the 
service of the Persian king, and he never again saw the city he 
had saved from the Persians and made mistress of an empire. 

198. Fall of Cimon ; Growing Power of the People. In a 
final battle Cimon crushed the Persian navy on the coast of Asia 
Minor (468 B.C.) and returned to Athens covered with glory. 
Nevertheless, the Athenians disapproved of Cimon's friendly 
policy toward Sparta and ostracized him a few years later. Cimon 
was a noble, and his overthrow was a victory of the people against 
the nobles. The people now passed laws cutting off all the political 
power of the old councils (§ 135). Meanwhile a more popular 
council of five hundred paid members, which had grown up, gained 
the power to conduct almost all of the government business of 
Athens. At the same time the citizen juries introduced by Solon 
as a court of appeal (§ 168) were greatly enlarged. To enable 
the poorest citizens to serve on these juries the people passed 
laws granting pay for jury service. These juries, or citizen courts, 
were at last so powerful that they formed the final lawmaking 
body in the State, and, together with the Assembly of all the 
citizens, they made the laws. The people were indeed in control. 



The Repulse of Persia 133 

This control was aided by a new law that, with one exception, all 
the higher officers of the State should be chosen by lot. 

199. Chief Elective Office and the Leadership of Pericles. 
There was, however, one kind of officer whom it was impossible 
to choose by lot, and that was the military commander, the 
general {strategus). The leader, or president, of the body of ten 
generals of Athens was the most powerful man in the State, and 
his office was elective. It thus became more and more possible 
for a noble with military training to make himself a strong and 
influential leader. If he was a man of persuasive eloquence he 
could lay out a definite series of plans for the nation, and by his 
oratory he could induce the Assembly of the Athenian citizens on 
the Pnyx (Fig. 42) to accept them. 

After the fall of Cimon there came forward a handsome and 
brilliant young Athenian named Pericles, a descendant of one of 
the old noble families of the line of Clisthenes. He desired to 
build up the splendid Athenian Empire of which Themistocles 
had dreamed. He put himself at the head of the party of progress 
and of increased power of the people. He kept their confidence 
year after year and thus secured his continued reelection as 
general. The result was that he became the actual head of the 
State in power, or, as we might say, he was the undisputed political 
''boss" of Athens from about 460 B.C. until his untimely death 
over thirty years later. 

200. Superior Wealth and Power of Athens. The new Athens 
of which Pericles had become the head was rapidly becoming the 
leader of the Greek world. In this leadership commerce and 
money were coming to play a very large part.^ A period of com- 
mercial prosperity followed the Persian wars. In her harbor town 
of Piraeus, built by the foresight of Themistocles, the commerce of 
Athens flourished as never before. The population of Attica 
rose to probably over two hundred thousand, of whom over half 
lived at Athens. The State needed money far exceeding all its 
old needs. It required a hundred thousand dollars a year to pay 

1 A fuller statement of the growing importance of business and finance in the life of 
the Greek states will be found in Ancient Times, §§ 532-5^1. 



134 



History of Europe 



the salaries of the jurymen and officials (§ 198). Large sums 
were needed for the new temples of marble ; but the greatest 
expense was for war. A war fleet of two hundred triremes required 




--■-ss=&yBs- 



Fig. 42. The Pnyx, the Athenian Place of Assembly 

The speakers' platform, with its three steps, is immediately in the fore- 
ground. The listening Athenian citizens of the Assembly sat on the ground 
now sloping away to the left, but at that time probably level. The ground 
they occupied was inclosed by a semicircular wall, beginning at the further end 
of the straight wall seen here on the right, extending then to the left, and 
returning to the straight wall again behind our present point of view (see 
semicircle on plan, p. 138). This was an open-air House of Commons, 
where, however, the citizen did not send a representative, but came and voted 
himself as he was influenced from this platform by great Athenian leaders, 
like Themistocles, Pericles, or Demosthenes. Note the Acropolis and the 
Parthenon, to which we look eastward from the Pnyx (see plan, p. 138, and 
tailpiece, p. 157). The Areopagus is just out of range on the left (see Fig. 43) 



nearly a hundred and twenty thousand dollars a month for wages 
of the sailors alone. The task of securing funds for running a 
government was a serious one. 



The Repulse of Persia 135 

The total income of the Athenian State at this time hardly 
■ -jached three quarters of a million dollars. Small as this seems 
) us of modern times, no other Greek state could raise anything 
like so large an annual income. Sparta, clinging to her old- 
tashioned ways, without manufactures or commerce and issuing 
f.nly her old-time iron coins, could not compete financially with 
Athens. This fact had military consequences, for Sparta could 
not maintain her full army in the field more than a few weeks 
because of the expense. In so far as war was a matter of money 
the commercial growth of Athens was giving her a growing 
superiority over all the other Greek states. 

201. First War between Athens and Sparta (459-446 B.C.). 
P(;ricles had won favor with the people by favoring a policy of 
ht.stility to Sparta. Foreseeing the coming struggle with Sparta, 
Pericles greatly strengthened the defenses of Athens by inducing 
■ '.'2 people to connect the fortifications of the city with those of 
i e Piraeus harbor by two Long Walls, thus forming a road com- 
ph^tely walled in, connecting Athens and her harbor (plan, p. 138). 

Not long after Pericles gained the leadership of the people the 
i..;ir with Sparta broke out. It lasted nearly fifteen years, with 
. ..Tying fortunes on both sides. The Athenian merchants re- 
sented the keen commercial rivalry of .^gina, planted as the 
ficurishing island was at the very front door of Attica (see map, 
p. 138). They finally captured the island after a long siege. 
Pericles likewise employed the Athenian navy in blockading for 
years the other great rival of Athens and friend of Sparta, Corinth, 
and thus ruined its merchants. 

'202. War with Persia ; the Egyptian Expedition. At the 
same time Athens dispatched a fleet of two hundred ships to assist 
Egypt, which had revolted against Persia. The Athenians were 
thus fighting both Sparta and Persia for years. The entire Athe- 
nian fleet in Egypt was lost. This loss so weakened the Athenian 
navy that the treasury of the Delian League was no longer safe 
in the little island of Delos against a possible raid by the Persians, 
lience Pericles shifted the treasury from Delos to Athens, thus 
linking the city still more the capital of an Athenian empire. 



136 History of Europe 

203. Peace with Sparta and Persia (445 B.C.). When peace 
was concluded (445 b.c.) all that Athens was able to retain 
was the island of ^gina, though at the same time she gained con- 
trol of the large island of Euboea. It was agreed that the peace 
should continue for thirty years. Thus ended what is often called 
the First Peloporinesian War, with the complete exhaustion of 
Athens as well as of her enemies in the Peloponnesus. Pericles 
had not shown himself a great naval or military commander in this 
war. The Athenians now also arranged a peace with Persia, over 
forty years after Marathon. But the rivalry between Athens and 
Sparta for the leadership of the Greeks was still unsettled. The 
struggle was to be continued in another long and weary Pelopon- 
nesian war. Before we proceed with the story of this fatal 
struggle we must glance briefly at the new and glorious Athens 
now growing up under the leadership of Pericles. 

QUESTIONS 

I. What great oriental power advanced to the east side of the 
/^gean ? What did the Ionian cities of Asia do ? What part did 
Athens take in their revolt ? How did the Persians respond ? Did 
the Athenians wait for the Persians at Athens ? Who led the Athe- 
nians ? Describe the Battle of Marathon. 

II. What was Themistocles' policy for the future defense of Athens ? 
Describe Themistocles' plan of campaign. Describe the first two 
battles ; the Battle of Salamis. What did Xerxes then do ? What was 
the result of the Greek failure to accept Themistocles' advice ? What 
victory did the Greeks win in Sicily ? Describe the final battle in 
Greece. What final results were obtained by the Greeks at sea ? 

III. What did Themistocles now do ? What defensive arrangements 
did Athens now make with the eastern Greek cities ? What differing 
policies did Cimon and Themistocles favor ? What then happened to 
Themistocles ? to Cimon ? What new victories did the people gain ? 
What new council arose ? 

How could a statesman still hold the leadership ? Who now became 
the leader of the people's party ? What were the chief expenses of 
the Athenian State ? its chief sources of income ? Could other states 
raise as much ? Sketch the First Peloponnesian War. 



CHAPTER IX 
ATHENS IN THE AGE OF PERICLES 

I. The Home, Education, and Training of 

Young Citizens 

204. The New Athens and Athenian Houses. The hasty re- 
building of Athens after the Persians had burned it did not pro- 
duce any noticeable changes in the houses, nor were there any of 
great size or splendor. There were still no beautiful houses any- 
where in Europe, such as we found on the Nile (Fig. lo). The 
one-story front of even a wealthy man's house was simply a blank 
wall, usually of sun-dried brick. The door, commonly the only 
opening in the windowless front, led into a court open to the sky 
and surrounded by a porch with columns adopted from Egypt 
(Fig. ii). Here in the mild climate of Greece the family could 
spend much of their time as in a sitting room (Fig. 60). Around 
the court opened a number of doors leading to a living room, 
sleeping rooms, dining room, storerooms, and also a tiny kitchen. 

The house lacked all conveniences. There was no chimney, 
and the smoke from the kitchen fire, though intended to drift 
up through a hole in the roof, often choked the room or floated 
out of the door. In winter gusty drafts filled the house, for many 
doorways were without doors, and glass in the form of panes 
for the windows (if there were any) was still unknown; The 
only stove was a pan of burning charcoal, called a brazier. 
Lacking windows, the ground-floor rooms depended for light 
entirely on the doors opening on the court. At night the dim 
light of an olive-oil lamp was all that was available. There was 
no plumbing or piping of any kind in the house, no drainage, 
and consequently no sanitary arrangements. The water supply 
was brought in jars by slaves from the nearest well or spring. 

137 



138 History of Europe 

The simplicity and bareness of the house itself were in noticeab 
contrast with the beautiful furniture and pottery which the Gret 
craftsmen were now producing (tailpiece, p. 149). 

The city was about a mile wide and somewhat more in lengt)- 
The streets were merely lanes or alleys, narrow and crookec'. 
winding between the bare mud-brick walls of the low house 
There was neither pavement nor sidewalk, and a stroll througj; 
the town after a rain meant wading through the mud. All the 
household rubbish and garbage were thrown directly into the 
street, and there was no system of sewerage. 

205. Costume. The gorgeous oriental raiment of earlier da} = 
(§ 139) had now largely disappeared in Greece, as bright colois 
for men did among us in the days of our great-great-grandfather 
Nevertheless, the man of elegant habits gained a practiced han 
in draping his white raiment and was proud of the gracefulne^^ 
and the sweeping lines with which he could arrange its folds. 
The women were less inclined to give up the old finery, for ui'- 
happily they had little to think about but clothes and house 
keeping (tailpiece, p. 149). For Greek citizens still kept the 
wives in the background, and they were more than ever mei 
housekeepers. 

206. School, Education, and Military Service. There were 
therefore no schools for the girls, but when the boy was ol.'i 
enough he was sent to school in charge of an old slave called a 
pedagogue (a Greek word meaning "leader of a child"). There 
were no schools maintained by the State and no schoolhouset 
School was conducted in his own house by some poor citizen, 
who was much looked down upon. He received his pay from the 
parents. Besides music and learning to read and write as of old 
(§ 1 73) J the pupil learned by heart many passages from the old 
poets, and here and there a boy with a good memory could repeat 
the entire Iliad and Odyssey. On the other hand, the boys still es- 
caped all instruction in mathematics, geography, or natural science. 

When the Athenian lad reached the age of eighteen years and 
left school, he was received as a citizen, providing that both his 
parents possessed Athenian citizenship. At nineteen, after a year 



--1 



Athens in the Age oj Pericles 139 

spent in garrison duty, the young recruits received spear and 
shield, given to each by the State. Thereupon they marched to 
the theater and entered the orchestra circle, where they were 
presented to the citizens of Athens before the play. Another year 
of garrison service on the frontier of Attica usually completed 
the young man's military service. 

207, Athletics. If the wealth and station of his family per- 
mitted, the Athenian youth was then more than ever devoted to the 
new athletic fields. On the north of Athens, outside the Dipylon 
Gate, was the field known as the Academy. There was another 
similar athletic ground called the Lyceum on the east of the city. 
The later custom of holding courses of instructive lectures in these 
places (§286) finally resulted in giving the words "academy" 
and "lyceum" the associations they now possess for us. The 
earliest contest established at Olympia seems to have been a two- 
hundred-yard dash, which the Greeks called a stadion (six hundred 
Greek feet). The chief events were boxing, wrestling, running, 
jumping, casting the javelin, and throwing the disk. To these, 
other contests were afterwarci added, especially chariot and horse- 
back races. Some of the philosophers later severely criticized the 
Greeks for giving far too much of their time and attention to 
athletic pursuits. 

II. Higher Education, Science, and the Training 
Gained by State Service 

208. Higher Education Offered by the Sophists. On the 
other hand, there were serious-minded young men, who spent their 
time on worthier things. Many a bright youth who had finished 
his music, reading, and writing at the old-fashioned private school 
annoyed his father by insisting that such schooling was not enough 
and by demanding money to pay for a course of lectures delivered 
by more modern private teachers called Sophists, a class of new 
and clever-witted lecturers who wandered from city to city. 

In the lectures of the Sophists a higher education was for the 
first time open to young men. In the first place, the Sophists 



I40 History of Europe 

taught rhetoric and oratory with great success ; fathers who had 
no gift of speech had the pleasure of seeing their sons practiced 
public speakers. It was through the teaching of the Sophists also 
that the first successful writing of Greek prose began. They also 
taught mathematics and astronomy, and the young men of Athens 
for the first time began to learn a little natural science. 

209. Intellectual Revolution ; Difference between Young 
and Old. In these new ideas the fathers were unable to follow 
their sons. When a father of that day found in the hands of his 
son a book by one of the great Sophists which began with a state- 
ment questioning the existence of the gods, the new teachings 
seemed impious. The old-fashioned citizen could at least vote 
for the banishment of such impious teachers and the burning 
of their books. The revolution which had taken place in the 
mind of Thales (§ 178) was now taking place likewise in the 
minds of ever-increasing numbers of Greeks. 

210. Progress in Science and Medicine. Science was advanc- 
ing, although without the microscope or the assistance of chem- 
istry. Among the sciences perhaps medfcine made the most prog- 
ress. In the first place, the Greek physicians rejected the older 
belief that disease was caused by evil demons and endeavored to 
find the natural causes of the ailment. To do this they sought 

* In this view we stand inside the wall of Themistocles, near the Dipylon 
Gate in the Potters' Quarter (see plan, p. 138). In the foreground is the 
temple of Theseus, the legendary unifier of Attica, whom all Athenians 
honored as a god, and to whom this temple was long supposed (perhaps 
wrongly) to have been erected. It is built of Pentelic marble and was finished 
a few years after the death of Pericles ; but now, after twenty-three hundred 
years or more, it is still the best-preserved of all ancient Greek buildings. 
Above the houses at the extreme right may be seen one corner of the hill 
called the Areopagus (see plan, p. 138), often called Mars' Ilill. It was prob- 
ably here that the apostle Paul (§ 419) preached in Athens (see Acts xvii). 
The buildings we see on the lofty Acropolis are all ruins of the structures 
erected after the place had been laid waste by the Persians (§ 188). The 
Parthenon (§215), in the middle of the hill (see plan, p. 138), shows the 
gaping hole caused by the explosion of a Turkish powder magazine 
ignited by a Venetian shell in 1687, when the entire central portion of the 
building was blown out. The space between the temple of Theseus, the 
Areopagus, and the Acropohs was largely occupied by the market place of 
Athens (§§ 213-214). 




* 

w 

X 
< 

O 



o 
o 
u 

< 

w 

B 
H 

Q 
< 

o 

o 

u 

< 

w 

W 

X 

H 

o 
w 

w 
H 

Q 
W 

J 

u 

I 

o 
en 

w 
a 
H 






142 History oj Europe 

to understand the organs of the body. They discovered that the 
brain was the organ of thought, but the arterial system, the circu- 
lation of the blood, and the nervous system were still entirely 
unknown. The greatest physician of the time was Hippocrates, 
and he became the founder of scientific medicine. 

211. Progress in History-Writing. Just at the close of Per- 
icles' life, in the midst of national calamities, the historian 
Herodotus, — a great traveler, — who had long been engaged on 
a history of the world, finally published his famous work. The 
story was so told that the glorious leadership of Athens would be 
clear to all Greeks and would show them that to her the Hellenes 
owed their deliverance from Persia. Throughout Greece it created 
a deep impression, and so tremendous was its effect on Athens 
that the Athenians voted Herodotus a reward of ten talents, some 
twelve thousand dollars. 

212. Educational Influence of Public Service and State 
Feasts. Besides the instruction received from the Sophists by 
many young men, their constant share in public affairs was giving 
them an experience which greatly assisted in producing an intelli- 
gent body of citizens. In the Council of Five Hundred (§ 198), 
citizens learned to carry on the daily business of the government. 
Every day also six thousand citizens were serving as jurors 
(§ 198). This service alone meant that one citizen in five was 
always engaged in duties which sharpened his wits and gave him 
some training in legal and business affairs. 

Public festivals maintained by the State also played an im- 
portant part in the lives of all Athenians. Every spring at the 
ancient feast of Dionysus the greatest play- writers each submitted 
three tragedies and a comedy to be played in the theater for a 
prize given by the State. The great State feast, called the 
Panathenaea, occurred every four years. A brilliant procession 
marched with music and rejoicing across the market place, carry- 
ing a beautiful new robe embroidered by the women of Athens 
for the goddess Athena. Following the procession the multitude 
ascended the Acropolis, where the robe was delivered to the 
goddess amid splendid sacrifices and impressive ceremonies. 




Fig. 44. The Two Leading Styles of Greek Architecture, the 
Doric {A and B) and the Ionic (C and B) 

The little Doric building (B) is the treasury of the Athenians at Delphi 
(Fig. 38), containing their offerings of gratitude to Apollo. On the low base 
at the left side of the building were placed the trophies from the Battle of 
Marathon. Over them on the walls are carved hymns to Apollo with musical 
fiotes attached, the oldest musical notation surviving. The beautiful Ionic 
building (Z>) is a restoration of the temple of Victory on the Athenian 
Acropolis. Contrast its slender columns with the sturdier shafts of the Doric 
style, and it will be seen that the Ionic order is a more delicate and graceful 
style. A and C show details of both styles. (After Luckenbach) 



144 History of Europe 

III. Art and Literature 

213. Painting. We can still follow the Athenian citizen and 
note a few of the noble monuments that met his eye as he went 
about the new Athens which Pericles was creating. When he 
wandered into the market place he found at several points colon- 
naded porches looking out upon the market. One of these, which 
had been presented to the city by Cimon's family, was called the 
"Painted Porch," for the wall behind the columns bore paintings 
by the artist Polygnotus. These paintings, depicting their glo- 
rious victory at Marathon, had been presented to the Athenians 
by the artist. The citizen could see the host of the fleeing Per- 
sians, and in the thick of the fray he could pick out the figures of 
Themistocles, of Miltiades, of Callimachus, who fell in the battle, 
and of ^schylus, the great tragic poet. 

214. Architecture. Behind the citizen rose a low hill, known as 
'' Market Hill," around which were grouped plain, bare govern- 
ment buildings. In spite of the growing sentiment for the glory 
of the State these plain buildings, like the Athenian houses, were 
all built of sun-dried-mud brick or, at the most, of rough rubble. 
The idea of great and beautiful buildings for the offices of the 
government was still unknown in the Mediterranean world, and 
no such building yet existed in Europe. Thus far the great public 
buildings of Greece were temples and not quarters for the offices 
of the government. 

215. Pericles' New Buildings on the Acropolis. As the citizen 
turns from the Painted Porch the height of the Acropolis towers 
above him. There, on its summit, has always been the dwelling 
place of Athena, whose arm is ever stretched out in protection 
over her beloved Athens. Now at last Pericles has undertaken to 
replace the ancient shrines burned by the Persians, on a scale of 
magnificence and beauty before unknown anywhere in the Greek 
world. The tinkle of many distant hammers from the height above 
tells where the stonecutters are shaping the marble blocks for the 
still unfinished Parthenon, a noble temple dedicated to Athena 
(Figs. 43, 45, and. plate, p. 144). There the people often see 




A Corner of the Parthenon 



B. G. Teubner 



Looking through the Doric colonnades at the southeast corner of the build- 
ing to the distant hills of Hymettus. On the left is the base of the wall of the 
interior, blown out by the explosion of a Turkish powder magazine. At the 
top of this wall was the frieze of Phidias, extending around the inner part of 
the building. From painting by Bethe-I.owe (Rhine Prints by B. G. Teubner, 
Leipzig. The Prang Company, New York) 



Athens in the Age of Pericles 



145 



I 



Pericles intently inspecting the buildings, as Phidias the sculptor 
and Ictinus the architect of the Parthenon follow him up and 
down the inclosure, explaining to him the progress of the work. 

216. Phidias and the Parthenon Sculptures. Phidias was the 
greatest of the sculptors at Athens. In a long band of carved 
marble extending entirely around the Parthenon (plate, p. 144) 




Fig. 45. Restoration of the Parthenon as it was in the Fifth 
Century b.c. (After Thiersch and Michaelis) 

The gable ends of the temple each contained a triangular group of sculpture 

depicting the birth of Athena and her struggle with Poseidon, god of the sea, 

for possession of Attica. The wonderful frieze of Phidias (Fig. 47 and § 216) 

extended around the building inside the colonnades at the top of the wall 

Phidias and his pupils portrayed the people of Athens moving in 
the stately procession (Fig. 47) of the Panathenaic festival 
(§212). Inside the new temple gleams the colossal figure of 
Athena, wrought by the cunning hand of Phidias in gold and 
ivory. 

217. The Drama ; ^schylus. In spite of the Sophists, the 
Athenian people still reverently believe that it was their gods who 
raised Athens to the powerful position she now occupies. All the 



146 History of Europe . 

citizens recall the story of the glorious victory of Salamis as 
iEschylus has told it in his great drama "The Persians." The 
play told them of the mighty purpose of the gods to save Hellas, 
just as the poet, who himself had fought the Persians (§213), 
might feel it. 

As he skirts the foot of the Acropolis the citizen reaches the 
theater (see plan, p. 138, and Fig. 46), where he finds the people 
are already entering, for the spring feast of Dionysus ( § 212) 
has arrived. It is natural that the people should feel that the 
theater and all that is done there belong to them, especially as 
they look down upon the orchestra circle and recognize their 
friends and neighbors and their own sons in the chorus for the 
day's performance. The play would seem strange enough to us, 
for there is little or no scenery ; and the actors, who are always 
men, wear grotesque masks, a survival of old days (§ 174). The 
narrative is largely carried on in song by the chorus, but this is 
varied by the dialogue of the actors, and the whole is not unlike 
an opera. 

218. Sophocles. A play of Sophocles is on, and the citizen's 
neighbor in the next seat leans over to tell him how as a lad 
many years ago he stood on the shore of Salamis, whither his 
family had fled, and as they looked down upon the destruction 
of the Persian fleet this same Sophocles, then a boy of sixteen, was 
in the crowd looking on with the rest. How deeply must the events 
of that tragic day have sunk into the boy's soul ! Because like 
^schylus — the first great writer of tragedies — he too sees the will 
of the gods in all that happens to men. He uplifts his audience 
to worship Zeus, however dark the destiny which the great god 
lays upon men. For Sophocles is no friend of the Sophists, who 
scoff at the gods. 

219. Euripides. But our citizen is inclined to distrust the 
new sensational plays of Euripides, the son of a farmer who lives 
on the island of Salamis (Fig. 40). He is a friend and companion 
of the Sophists, and in matters of religion his mind is troubled 
with doubts. His new plays are all filled with these doubts re- 
garding the gods, and they have raised a great many questions 



Athens in the Age of Pericles 



147 



and some doubts which the citizen has never been able to banish 
from his own mind since he heard them. Sophocles therefore suits 
all the old-fashioned folk, and it is very rarely that Euripides, in 
spite of his great ability, has been able to carry off the prize. The 




Fig. 46. The Theater of Athens 

This theater was the center of the growth and development of Greek drama, 
which began as a part of the celebration of the spring feast of Dionysus, 
god of the vine and the fruitfulness of the earth (§§ 144, 174, 212, 217). 
The temple of the god stood here, just at the left. Long before anyone knew 
of such a thing as a theater the people gathered at this place to watch the 
celebration of the god's spring feast, where they formed a circle about the 
chorus, which narrated in song the stories of the gods (§ 174). This circle 
(called the orchestra) was finally marked out permanently and seats of wood 
for the spectators were erected in a semicircle on one side, but the singing and 
action all took place in the circle on the level of the ground. On the side 
opposite the public was a booth, or tent (Greek skene, "scene") for the 
actors, and out of this finally developed the stage. From the seats, accommo- 
dating possibly seventeen thousand people, the citizens had a grand view of 
the sea with the island of yEgina, their old-time rival (§ 201), for orchestra and 
seats continued roofless, and a Greek theater was always open to the sky 

citizen feels some anxiety as he realizes that his own son and 
most of the other young men of his set are enthusiastic admirers 
of Euripides. They constantly read his plays and talk them over 
with the Sophists. 



148 History of Europe 

220. Comedy. The great tragedies were given in the morning, 
and in the afternoon the people were ready for less serious enter- 
tainment, such as comedy offered. Out of the old-time country 
feasts the comedy had also developed into a stage performance. 
The comedy-writers did not hesitate to introduce into their 
plays the greatest dignitaries of the State. Even Pericles was not 
spared, and great philosophers or serious-minded writers like 
Euripides were represented on the stage and made irresistibly 
ridiculous, while the multitudes of Athens vented their delight 
in roars of laughter mingled with shouts and cheers. 

221. Books and Reading. Thousands of citizens were reading 
the old plays that had already been presented. For now at length 
books had come to take an important place in the life of Athens. 
In our Athenian citizen's library were Homer and the works of 
the old classic poets. They were written on long rolls of papyrus 
as much as a hundred and fifty or sixty feet in length. Besides 
literary works, all sorts of books of instruction began to appear. 
The sculptors wrote of their art, and there was a large group of 
books on medicine, bearing the name of Hippocrates. Textbooks 
on mathematics and rhetoric circulated, and the Athenian house- 
keeper could even find a cookbook at the bookshop. 

222. Summary of Periclean Athens. Under such influences 
there had grown up at Athens a whole community of intelligent 
men. They were the product of the most active interest in the 
life and government of the community. They constantly shared 
in its tasks and problems, and they were also in daily contact 
with the greatest works of art in literature, drama, painting, 
architecture, and sculpture. Very different from the old Athens 
of the days before the repulse of the Persians, the new Athens 
had thus become such a wonderful community as the ancient 
world had never seen before. It now remained to be seen whether 
the people, in complete control of the State, could guide her wisely 
and maintain her power. As we watch the citizens of Athens try- 
ing to furnish her with wise and successful guidance, we shall find 
another and sadly different side of the life of this wonderful 
community. 




j 




■4-> 


\ 






! w 




(U <u 


: : s 






• ^ 




.2 ^ 


j' 




. i ^ 




^ a, 








•1 o 











43 >; 


h-t 




t^ oj 


; (4 






tn 




-^ "3 






!3 


O 




+J ■4-J 




3 4J 


■VTS 


1^ o 


1— 1 

2 


(U 




W 


■21- 


(U a; 


K 




^ ^ 


H 


;?; 


+-» "^ 


< 


O 


O be 


O 

1— 1 




6i 


o 


O 


4> 2 


Qi 


4_> 


CO 


P-, 






h4 


^ ^ 


CO 


<; 


+-' « 


<J 


> 


o .S 


1— t 


HH 


to <u 


\ Q 


CO 


"rt »- 






to £ 

1) H 


; O 


U 

1— I 

< 


to 
1-1 








W 


+^ to 


I-! 


H 


«*-! .— 


P^ 


<! 


o ^ 


: h 


^ 


^ 2 


W 


<) 
^ 


© 


a 




> rt 


H 




-C-^ 


fe 




C « 


J O 




^ t 

A S 


^1 Fh 

-j Pi 






Ph 






i f^ 




13 •-* 


'^ 




S:^ 


1 




oi ri 


1 S 




s s 






<u 'S 

•5 « 
o 




i iG. 48. Hermes playing with the Child Dioxysus 

The uplifted right hand (now broken off) of the god probably held a bunch of 
grapes, with which he was amusing the child (§ 242). This wonderful work 
was wrought by the sculptor Praxiteles and is one of the few original works 
of the greatest Greek sculptors found in Greece. Nearly all such Greek 
originals have perished and we know them only in ancient Roman copies 
found in Italy (§ 408). This great work was dug out at Olympia 



Athens in the Age of Pericles 



149 



QUESTIONS 

I. Describe an Athenian house of this age ; its conveniences ; its 
equipment ; its decoration. What were the streets of Athens like ? 
Describe Greek costume in- this age. What was now the position of 
women ? Describe the usual school and its teacher. What subjects 
were taught ? What did a boy do when he left school ? What were 
the chief events in athletics ? 

II. What did the Sophists teach? What did the fathers think 
about such teaching ? What discoveries were made in medicine ? in 
history-writing ? How did government business train the citizens of 
Athens ? What can you say about official State feasts at Athens ? 

III. Discuss the painting of Marathon in the Athenian market 
place. What buildings did Pericles erect ? Describe the sculpture of 
Phidias. What play did ^Eschylus write about the war with Persia ? 
Describe the theater at Athens. Describe a Greek play. What did 
Sophocles think about the gods and the Sophists ? What did Euripides 
think about the gods ? To which of these two men did the Athenians 
vote the most prizes ? Tell about the comedies played at Athens. 
What books could a citizen find at the bookshop ? 





CHAPTER X 



THE FALL OF THE ATHENLA.N EMPIRE 



I. The Second Peloponnesian War 

223. Dangerous Hostility to Athens. While Athens under 
the guiding hand of Pericles had thus made herself the chief 
center of refined and civilized life in the Greek world, her political 
situation was becoming a serious one. When the danger from 
Persia seemed over, some of the island states of the Empire wished 
to withdraw. But Athens would not permit them to do so. She 
sent out her war fleet, conquered the rebellious islands, and 
forced them to pay money tribute instead of contributing ships. 
Often many of their citizens were driven out and their lands 
were divided among Athenian settlers. The people of the Empire 
outside of Attica were not allowed to become Athenian citizens, 
Athens in this way lost many loyal citizens which she might 
have gained among her subjects. At the same time Athens forced 
all the people of the Empire to come there to settle their legal 
differences. Much discontent resulted among the states of the Em- 
pire, and more than one of them sent secret messages to Sparta, 
with the purpose of throwing off Athenian control and going over 
to Sparta. 

Note. The above headpiece shows us the lovely Porch of the Maidens built to adorn 
the temple on the Acropolis known as the Erechtheum. 

ISO 



The Fall of the Athenian Empire 151 

While such was the state of affairs within the Athenian Empire, 
conditions outside were even more serious. To a backward 
mihtary state like Sparta there were reasons for feeling jealous of 
Athens. Among these reasons were the outward splendor of 
Athens, her commercial prosperity, her not very conciliatory atti- 
tude toward her rivals, the visible growth of her power, and the 
example she offered of the seeming success of triumphant democ- 
racy. This feeling of unfriendliness toward Athens was not con- 
fined to Sparta but was quite general throughout Greece. The 
merchants of Corinth found Athenian competition a continuous 
vexation. When Athenian possessions in the north ^gean revolted 
and received support from Corinth and Sparta, the fact that 
hardly half of the thirty years' term of peace (§203) had expired 
did not prevent the outbreak of war. 

224. Second Peloponnesian War (431 B.C.). It seemed as 
if all European Greece not included in the Athenian Empire had 
united against Athens, for Sparta controlled the entire Pelopon- 
nesus except Argos, and north of Attica Bceotia, led by Thebes, as 
well as its neighbors on the west, were hostile to Athens. The 
support of Athens consisted of the ^Egean cities which made up 
her Empire and a few outlying allies of little power. She began 
the struggle with a large war fund and a fleet which made her un- 
disputed mistress of the sea. But she could not hope to cope with 
the land forces of the enemy, which, some thirty thousand strong, 
had planned to meet on the Isthmus in the spring of 431 B.C. 

Accordingly, Pericles' plan for the war was to undertake only 
naval enterprises and to make no effort to defend Attica by land. 
When Sparta led the Peloponnesian army into Attica, Pericles 
directed the country people to leave their homes and take refuge 
within the walls of Athens. . Here they were placed in the open 
markets and squares, the sanctuaries, and especially between the 
Long W^alls leading to the Piraeus. To offset the devastation of 
Attica by the Spartan army, all that Athens could do was to or- 
ganize destructive sea raids and inflict as much damage as pos- 
sible along the coasts of the Peloponnesus or blockade and destroy 
Corinthian commerce as of old. 



152 History of Europe 

The masses of people crowded within the walls of Athens under 
the unsanitary conditions we have already described (§ 204) ex- 
posed the city to disease. A plague, brought in from the Orient, 
raged with intermissions for several seasons. It carried off prob- 
ably a third of the population, and from this unforeseen disaster 
Athens never recovered. Constantly under arms for the defense 
of the walls, deprived of any opportunity to strike the enemy, 
forced to sit still and see their land laid waste, the citizens at 
last broke out in discontent. 

225. Fall and Death of Pericles (429 B.C.). In spite of his 
undaunted spirit Pericles was unable to hold the confidence of a 
majority. He lost control, was tried for misappropriation of funds, 
and fined. The absence of his steadying hand and powerful leader- 
ship was at once felt by the people. There was no one to take 
his place, although a swarm of small politicians were contending 
for control of the Assembly. Realizing their helplessness, the 
people soon turned to Pericles again and elected him general. But 
the great days of his leadership were over ; he was stricken 
with the plague and died soon after his return to power. Great 
statesman though he was, he had left Athens with a system of 
government which did not provide for the continuation of such 
leadership as he had furnished, and without such leadership the 
Athenian Empire was doomed. 

226. Lack of Leaders after Pericles ; Alcibiades. Men of the 
prosperous manufacturing class now came to the front. They 
possessed neither the high station in life, the ability as statesmen, 
nor the qualities of leadership to win the confidence and respect 
of the people. Moreover, these new leaders were not soldiers and 
could not command the fleet or the army as Pericles had done. 
The only notable exception was Alcibiades, a brilliant young man, 
a relative of Pericles and brought up in his house. If he had 
enjoyed the guidance of his foster father a few years longer, he 
might have become the savior of Athens and of Greece. As it 
happened, however, this young leader was more largely responsible 
than anyone else for the destruction of the Athenian Empire and 
the downfall of Greece. 



I 



The Fall of the Athenian Empire 153 

Athens therefore completely lacked a strong and steadfast 
leader, whose well-formed plans might furnish a firm and guiding 
influence.. Hence the management of Athenian affairs fell into 
confusion. It seemed impossible to regain steadfast leadership. 
Cleon, a tanner, one of the new leaders from among the common 
people, was a man of much energy, with a good deal of financial 
ability. As the war dragged on, the payment of army and fleet 
reduced Athenian funds to a very low state. Cleon then levied 
an income tax and raised the tribute of the .^gean cities. 

227. Peace of Nicias (421 B.C.). Meantime there was really 
no military disaster of sufficient importance to cripple seriously 
either Sparta or Athens. It was the devastation wrought by the 
plague which had seriously affected Athens. Cleon having been 
killed in battle the leadership fell into the hands of Nicias, a man 
of no ability. After ten years of indecisive warfare a peace was ar- 
ranged by Nicias to be kept for fifty years. Each contestant agreed 
to give up all new conquests and to retain only old possessions. 

II. Third Peloponnesian War and Destruction of the 

Athenian Empire 

228. Third Peloponnesian War ; Sicilian Expedition. Mean- 
while serious difficulties arose in carrying out the conditions of 
the peace. The gifted and reckless Alcibiades, seeking opportu- 
nity for a brilliant military career, did all that he could to excite 
the war party in Athens. He was elected general and was soon 
able to carry the Assembly with him in his war plans. In this 
way Attica, exhausted by plague and warfare, was enticed by 
Alcibiades into a life-and-death struggle which was to prove final. 

The war began with several years of ill-planned military and 
naval operations. For some years the Spartans did not respond 
with hostilities and sent no army into Attica. Alcibiades at 
length persuaded the Athenians to plan a great joint expedition 
of army and navy against Sicily, especially the mighty city of 
Syracuse, founded as a colony of Corinth. The Athenians placed 
Alcibiades and Nicias in command of this expedition. 



154 History oj Europe 

229. Arrest of Alcibiades and his Flight to Sparta. Just as 
the fleet was about to sail certain sacred images in Athens were 
impiously mutilated, and the deed was attributed to Alcibiades. 
In spite of his demand for an immediate trial the Athenians post- 
poned the case until his return from Sicily. When the fleet reached 
Italy, however, the Athenian people, with their usual inability to 
follow any consistent plan and also desiring to take Alcibiades 
at a great disadvantage, suddenly recalled him for trial. This 
procedure not only deprived the expedition of its only able leader 
but also gave Alcibiades an opportunity to desert to the Spartans, 
which he promptly did. His advice to the Spartans now proved 
fatal to the Athenians. 

230. Incompetence of Nicias. The appearance of the huge 
Athenian fleet off their coast struck dismay into the hearts of the 
Syracusans, but Nicias entirely failed to see the importance of 
immediate attack before the Syracusans could recover and make 
preparations for the defense of their city. When, after much 
delay, Nicias was finally induced by the second general in com- 
mand to begin the siege of the city, courage had returned to the 
Syracusans, and their defense was well organized. 

On the advice of Alcibiades the Spartans sent an able com- 
mander with a small force to assist Syracuse, and the city was 
confident in its new ally. When Nicias made no progress in the 
siege Athens responded to his call for help with a second fleet 
and more land forces. No Greek state had ever mustered such 
power and sent it so far across the waters. All Greece watched 
the spectacle with amazement. ISIeantime the Syracusans too 
had organized a fleet. The Athenian fleet had entered the harbor, 
and in such narrow quarters they were unable to maneuver or 
take advantage of their superior seamanship. The fleet of Syra- 
cuse was finally victorious in several actions. 

231. Capture of Athenian Fleet and Army at Syracuse 
(413 B.C.). With disaster staring them in the face, there was 
nothing for the Athenians to do but withdraw. But just at this 
point an eclipse of the moon occurred, and the superstitious Nicias 
insisted on waiting another month for a more favorable moon. 



The Fall of the Athenian Empire 155 

The Syracusans then blockaded the channel to the sea and com- 
pletely shut up the Athenian fleet within the harbor, so that an 
attempt to break through and escape disastrously failed. The 
desperate Athenian army, abandoning sick and wounded too late, 
endeavored to escape into the interior, but was overtaken and 
forced to surrender. After executing the commanding generals 
the Syracusans took the prisoners, seven thousand in number, and 
sold them into slavery or threw them into the stone quarries of the 
city, where most of them miserably perished. Thus the Athenian 
expedition was completely destroyed (413 b.c). This disaster, 
together with the earlier ravages of the plague, brought Athens 
near the end of her resources. 

232. Distress of Athens. Sparta, seeing the unprotected con- 
dition of Athens, now no longer hesitated to undertake a cam- 
paign into Attica. On the advice of Alcibiades again, the Spartans 
occupied the town of Decelea, almost within sight of Athens. 
Here they established a permanent fort held by a strong garrison, 
and thus placed Athens in a state of perpetual siege. All agricul- 
ture ceased, and the Athenians lived on imported grain. The 
people now understood the folly of having sent away on a distant 
expedition the ships and the men that should have been kept at 
home to repel the attacks of a powerful and still uninjured foe. 

To add still further to the Athenian distress, the powerful 
Persian satrap in western Asia Minor was helping the Spartans, 
though Athens also had tried to win his aid. The Greek islands 
and the cities of Asia Minor which had once united in the Delian 
League with Athens to throw off Persian rule were now combining 
with Sparta and Persia against Athens. Thus the former union 
of the Greeks in a heroic struggle against the Asiatic enemy had 
given way to a disgraceful scramble for Persian support. 

233. Final Fall and Death of Alcibiades. Meantime the 
Athenians again turned to Alcibiades for help. In several con- 
flicts, chiefly through his skill, the Peloponnesian fleet was finally 
completely destroyed, and Athens regained the command of the 
sea. Then Alcibiades returned in triumph to Athens and was 
elected general. It now needed only the abilities of such a leader 



156 History of Europe 

as Alcibiades to bring about the union of the distracted Greek 
states and to found a great Greek nation. At this supreme mo- 
ment, however, Alcibiades lacked the courage to seize the govern- 
ment, and the opportunity never returned. When he put to sea 
again a slight defeat, inflicted on a part of his fleet when he was 
not present, cost him the favor of the fickle Athenians. They 
failed to reelect him general, and he retired to a castle which he 
had kept in readiness on the Hellespont. He never saw his native 
land again and died in exile, the victim of a Persian dagger. 

234. Capture of the Athenian Fleet at ^gospotami (405 B.C.) 
and Fall of the Athenian Empire (404 B.C.). In spite of some 
success at sea Athens now suffered worse than ever before 
for lack of competent commanders. As a result the final disaster 
could not be long averted. The Attic fleet of a hundred and 
eighty triremes was lulled into false security in the Hellespont 
near the river called ^Egospotami. Then as it lay drawn up on 
the beach it was surprised by the able Spartan commander Ly- 
sander and captured almost intact. 

At last, twenty-seven years after Pericles had provoked the 
war with Sparta, the resources of Athens were exhausted. Not 
a man slept on the night when the terrible news of final ruin 
reached Athens. It was soon confirmed by the appearance of 
Lysander's fleet blockading the Piraeus. The grain ships from 
the Black Sea could no longer reach the port of Athens. Starva- 
tion finally forced the stubborn democratic leaders to submit, 
and the city surrendered. The Long Walls and the fortifications of 
the Piraeus were torn down, the remnant of the fleet was handed 
over to Sparta, all foreign possessions were given up, and Athens 
was forced to enter the Spartan League. These hard conditions 
saved the city from the complete destruction demanded by 
Corinth. Thus the century which had so gloriously begun for 
Athens with the repulse of Persia, the century which under the 
leadership of such men as Themistocles and Pericles had seen 
her rise to supremacy in all that was best and noblest in Greek 
life, closed with the annihilation of the Athenian Empire 

(404 B.C.). 



The Fall of the Athenian Empire 



157 



QUESTIONS 

I. How did Athens treat the subject states of her Empire ? What 
was her pohcy regarding citizenship ? regarding lawsuits in the subject 
states ? How did these states now regard Athens ? How did the states 
outside the Athenian Empire feel ? What was the result ? • Who were 
the enemies of Athens in this war ? What were her resources ? 

What was Pericles' plan of campaign ? What disaster overtook 
Athens ? How did this affect the fortunes of Pericles ? What was the 
result ? What young leader now came forward ? What business man 
now tried to lead the nation ? What was the result of ten years' war ? 
Who arranged the peace ? When ? 

II. Who was chiefly responsible for the reopening of the war ? What 
great expedition did the Athenians plan ? Who were the commanders ? 
Tell the story of its expedition and its end. What did Sparta now do ? 
What was now the internal condition of the Athenian Empire ? 

What part did Persia play in the war ? What can you state of the 
restoration of Alcibiades to office ? What was the result ? How did 
the loss of her fleet affect Athens ? What terms did Sparta make ? 
Contrast the beginning and the end of the fifth century in Athenian 
history. 

Note. This tailpiece is a view of the Parthenon temple on the Acropolis at Athens. 
It shows the better-preserved side of the building. For the other side see Fig. 43. 







CHAPTER XI 

THE FINAL CONFLICTS AMONG THE GREEK STATES AND 
THEIR HIGHER LIFE AFTER PERICLES 

I. Spartan Leadership and the Decline 
OF Democracy 

235. Spartan Rule : Struggle of Oligarchy and Democracy. 

The long struggle of Athens for the political leadership of the 
Greek world had failed. It now remained to be seen whether 
her victorious rival, Sparta, was any better suited to undertake 
such leadership. Military garrisons commanded by Spartan offi- 
cers were placed in many of the Greek cities, and Spartan control 
was maintained in a much more offensive form than was tlje old 
tyranny of Athens. In each city the Spartans established and 
supported by military force a government carried on by a small 
group of men from the noble or upper class. Such rule of a small 
group was called oligarchy, a Greek term meaning " rule of a few." 
By such violent means Sparta was able to repress the democracies 
which had everywhere been hostile to her. In some cities the 
oligarchies were guilty of the worst excesses, murdering or banish- 
ing their political opponents and seizing their fortunes. When 
the people regained power they retaliated in the same way and 
drove the oligarchs from the city. 

236. Rise of Banking and Financial Experts. Athens was 
still the greatest city and the leading business center in the 
Mediterranean world. While farming declined, manufacturing and 
business flourished. Wealthy men combined their capital to form 
the first Greek banks at Athens. Athens thus became the financial 
center of the ancient world, as New York and London are of the 
modern world, and her bankers became the proverbially wealthy 
men of the time. At the same time the finances of a nation became 

158 



The Final Conflicts among the Greek States 159 

more and more a matter of special training, and it was more 
difficult for the average citizen without experience to conduct the 
financial offices of the government. 

237. Rise of Professional Soldiers. The same thing was true 
of military affairs. The long Peloponnesian Wars had kept large 
numbers of Greeks so long in the army that many of them re- 
mained in military life and became professional soldiers. Such 
soldiers serving a foreign state for pay are called ''mercenaries." 
The Greek youths who could find no opportunities at home were 
therefore enlisting as soldiers in Egypt, in Asia Minor, and in Persia, 
and the best young blood of Greece was being spent to strengthen 
foreign states instead of building up the power of the Greeks. 

During the Peloponnesian Wars military leadership had also 
become a profession. Athens produced a whole group of pro- 
fessional military leaders ; the most talented among these was 
Xenophon. About 400 B.C. he took service in Asia Minor with 
Cyrus, a young Persian prince. In a famous retreat from Babylon 
Xenophon led ten thousand Greek troops up the Tigris past the 
ruins of Nineveh and through the mountains until they reached 
the Black Sea and finally returned home in safety. Of this ex- 
traordinary raid into the Persian Empire Xenophon has left a 
modest account called the "Anabasis" ("up-going"), one of the 
great books which have descended to us from ancient times. 

The Mediterranean, which had so long ago received the arts of 
peace from the Orient, was now also learning from the same 
sources the use of war machinery, like movable towers and batter- 
ing rams. At the same time larger warships were constructed, 
some having as many as five banks of oars, and the old triremes 
with three banks could no longer stand against these new and 
powerful ships. 

238. Greek States war against Sparta (395-337 B.C. ) ; the 
King^s Peace (387 B.C.). The rule of Sparta finally caused such 
dissatisfaction that the Greeks, led by Athens, began to revolt. 
Athenian successes against Sparta at length led the Persians to 
fear lest Athens should again be strong enough to endanger Per- 
sian control in Asia Minor. The Spartans, who had been fighting 



i6o History of Europe 

Persia, therefore found it easy to arrange a peace with the Per- 
sians. The Greek states fighting Sparta were equally willing to 
come to terms, and when peace was at last established in Greece, 
it was under the humiliating terms of a treaty accepted by Hellas 
at the hands of a Persian king. It is known as the King's Peace 
(387 B.C.). It did not end the leadership of Sparta over the 
Greek states, and the Greek cities of Asia Minor were shamefully 
abandoned to Persia. 

11. The Fall of Sparta and the Leadership 

OF Thebes 

239. Thebes and a New League against Sparta (378 b.c). 
The Spartans were finally more hated than Athens had ever been. 
At Thebes a group of fearless and patriotic citizens succeeded in 
slaying the oligarchs. The Spartan garrison at Thebes surrendered, 
and a democracy was set up which gained the leadership of all 
Bceotia. Athens and Thebes then led another combination against 
Sparta. The Spartans met disaster on land, and when this was 
followed by the defeat of their fleet by Athens they were ready 
for peace. 

To arrange this peace all the Greek states met at Sparta, and 
such meetings gave them experience in the united management 
of their common affairs for the welfare of all Hellas. By giving 
every state a voice in the control of Hellas, Sparta might still have 
finally united the Greeks into a great nation. But this was not 
to be. When the conditions of peace were being decided upon, the 
Spartans refused to allow Thebes to speak for the whole of Bceotia. 
The Thebans refused to enter the compact on any other terms, 
and the peace was concluded without them. This left Sparta 
and Thebes still in a state of war. 

240. Battle of Leuctra and Fall of Sparta (371 B.C.). All 
Greece now expected to see the Thebans crushed by the heavy 
Spartan phalanx,^ which had so long proved irresistible. But 

1 The action and effect of an advancing Greek phalanx are described in Ancient 
Times, § 637. For plan of the Battle of Leuctra see ibid. p. 403. 



The Final Conflicts among the Greek States i6i 

owing to the military skill of the Theban commander, a gifted 
and patriotic citizen named Epaminondas, the Thebans were 
most unexpectedly victorious in the decisive conflict which took 
place at Leuctra, in southern Bceotia (see map, p. 138). Over 
half of the Spartans engaged were slain and with them their king. 
The long-invincible Spartan army was at last defeated, and the 
charm of Spartan prestige was finally broken. After more than 
thirty years of leadership (since 404 B.C.) Spartan power was 
ended (371 b.c). 

241. Fall of Thebes and Political Prostration of the Whole 
Greek World. It then remained to be seen whether Thebes, the 
new victor, could accomplish what Athens and Sparta had failed 
in doing and could create a Greek nation. But the supremacy 
of the Thebans was based upon the genius of a single man, and 
when Epaminondas fell in a final battle with Sparta at Mantinea 
(362 B.C.), the power of Thebes collapsed. 

Thus the only powerful Greek states which might have welded 
the Hellenic world into a nation had crushed each other. Hellas 
was therefore doomed to fall helplessly before a conqueror from 
the outside. Yet in spite of their political decline during the two 
generations since Pericles, the Greeks, and especially the Athe- 
nians, had been achieving things in art, architecture, literature, 
philosophy, and science which made this period perhaps the 
greatest in the history of man. 

III. Sculpture and Painting 

242. The Sculpture of Praxiteles. Sculpture had made no- 
table progress since the days of Pericles. The great Athenian 
sculptor Praxiteles led the way. His native city being without 
the money for large monumental works, Praxiteles wrought in- 
dividual figures of life size. Unlike the majestic, cold, and god- 
like figures of Phidias, the gods of Praxiteles seem near to us. 
They at once appeal to us as being human like ourselves, interested 
in a life like ours, and doing things which we should like to do 
ourselves. As they stand at ease in attitudes of repose, we find 



1 62 History oj Europe 

in them a beauty and sheer human appeal unattained by any 
earlier sculpture of the Greeks (Fig. 48). 

243. Painting and Discovery of how to paint Light and 
Perspective. The introduction of portable paintings on wooden 
tablets made it possible for people of wealth to set up paintings 
in their own houses, and in this way private support of art in- 
creased and painting made more rapid progress than ever before 
or since. An Athenian painter named Apollodorus now began 
to notice that the light usually fell on an object from one side, 
leaving the unlighted side so dark that but little color showed on 
that side, while on the lighted side the colors came out very 
brightly. When he painted a woman's arm in this way, lo, it 
looked round and seemed to stand out from the surface of the 
painting ; whereas up in the Painted Porch all the human limbs 
in the old painting of Marathon (§213) looked perfectly fiat. 
By • representing figures in the background of his paintings as 
smaller than those in front, Apollodorus also introduced what 
we now call perspective. 

IV. Religion, Literature, and Thought 

244. Age of Conflict after the Death of Pericles. Any young 
Athenian born at about the time of Pericles' death found himself 
in an age of conflict wherever he went : an age of conflict abroad 
on the field of battle as he stood with spear and shield in the 
Athenian ranks in the long years of warfare between Athens, 
Sparta, and Thebes ; an age of conflict at home in Athens amid 
the tumult and even bloodshed of the streets and markets of the 
city as the common people, the democracy, struggled with the 
nobles for the leadership of the State ; and finally an age of con- 
flict in himself as he felt his own faith in old things struggling to 
maintain itself against new views which were coming in (§209). 

He recalled the childhood tales of the gods, which he had heard 
at his nurse's knee. WTien he had asked her how the gods looked 
she had pointed to a beautiful vase in his father's house. There 
were the gods on the vase in human form, and so he had long 



The Final Conflicts among the Greek States 163 



thought of them as people like those of Athens. Later at school 
he had memorized long passages of the Homeric poems and 
learned more about the gods' adventures on earth. Then he had 
begun to go to the theater, where he was much delighted with the 
comedies of Aristophanes, the great- 
est of the comedy writers (§220). 
Aristophanes made ridiculous such 
men as Euripides and the Sophists, 
who doubted the existence of the gods. 

245. Victory of Doubt ; Triumph 
cf Euripides. Then when this young 
Athenian left his boyhood teacher 
behind and went to hear the lectures 
of a noted Sophist (§208), he was 
told that no one knew with any cer- 
tainty whether the gods existed, nor 
what they were like. Whatever the 
gods might be like, the Sophist was 
sure they were not such beings as he 
found pictured in the Homeric poems. 
The youth and his educated friends 
were all reading the splendid plays of 
Euripides (§219), with their uncer- 
tainties, struggles, and doubts about 
life and the gods. Euripides, to whom 
the Athenians had rarely voted a vic- 
tory during his lifetime (§219), had 
now triumphed ; but his triumph 
meant the defeat of the old beliefs, 
the rejection of the old ideas of the 
gods, and the incoming of a new age 
in thought and religion. 

246. Socrates. The citizen was reminded of another source 
of doubt as he passed on the street the rude figure of a poor Athe- 
nian named Socrates, whose ill-clothed figure and ugly face 
(Fig. 49) had become familiar in the streets to all the folk of 




Fig. 49. P'ORTRAIT OF 

Socrates 

This is not the best of the 
numerous surviving portraits 
of Socrates, but it is especially 
interesting because it bears 
under the philosopher's name 
nine inscribed lines contain- 
ing a portion of his public de- 
fense as reported by Plato in 
his Apology 



1 64 History of Europe 

Athens since the outbreak of the second waf with Sparta. He 
was accustomed to stand about the market place all day long, 
engaging in conversation anyone he met and asking a great many 
questions very hard to answer. Socrates' questions left most people 
in a very confused state of mind, for he seemed to throw doubt 
on everything which the Athenians had once regarded as settled. 

Yet the familiar and homely figure of this stonecutter's son 
was the personification of the best and highest things in Greek 
genius. Without desire for office or a political career, Socrates' 
greatest interest nevertheless was the State. He believed that the 
State, made up as it was of citizens, could be purified and saved 
only by the improvement of the individual citizen through the 
education of his mind to recognize virtue and right. 

Inspired by this belief, Socrates went about in Athens engag- 
ing all his fellow citizens in discussion, convinced that he might 
thus lead each citizen in turn to a knowledge of the leading 
virtues. He firmly believed that the citizen who had once recog- 
nized these virtues would shape every action of his life by them. 
While Socrates made no appeal to religion as an influence toward 
good conduct, he nevertheless showed himself a deeply religious 
man, believing with devout heart in the gods, although they were 
not exactly those of the fathers, and even feeling, like the 
Hebrew prophets, that there was a divine voice within him calling 
him to his high mission. 

247. Public Opinion of Socrates. Socrates' fame spread far 
and wide, and when the Delphian oracle (§ 144) was asked who 
was the wisest of the living it responded with the name of this 
greatest of Greek teachers. A group of pupils gathered about 
him, among whom the most famous was Plato. But the aims and 
noble efforts of Socrates were misunderstood. His keen questions 
seemed to throw doubt upon all the old beliefs. 

248. The Trial and Death of Socrates (399 B.C.). So the 
Athenians summoned Socrates to trial for corrupting the youth 
with all sorts of doubts and impious teachings. He might easily 
have left Athens when the complaint was lodged against him. 
Nevertheless he appeared for trial, made a powerful and dignified 



The Final Conflicts among the Greek States 165 

defense, and, when the court voted the death penalty, passed his 
last days in tranquil conversation with his friends and pupils, in 
whose presence he then quietly drank the fatal hemlock poison. 
Thus the Athenian democracy, which had so fatally mismanaged 
the affairs of the nation in war, brought upon itself much greater 
reproach. in condemning to death the greatest and purest soul 
among its citizens. 

The undisturbed serenity of Socrates in his last hours, as 
pictured to us in Plato's story of the scene, profoundly affected 
the whole Greek world and still forms one of the most precious 
possessions of humanity. He was the greatest Greek, and in him 
Greek civilization reached its highest level. 

249. Scientific Writing of History. The change in Greek 
belief was also evident in a new and remarkable history. Its 
author was Thucydides, the first scientific writer of history. A 
generation earlier Herodotus' history (§211) had represented the 
fortunes of nations as due to the will of the gods ; but Thucydides, 
with an insight like that of modern historians, traced historical 
events to their earthly causes in the world of men where they 
occur. There stood the two books, Herodotus and Thucydides, 
side by side in the citizen's library. There were only thirty years 
or so between them, but how different the beliefs of the two his- 
torians, the old and the new ! Thucydides' history has been one 
of the world's greatest prose classics ever since. 

250. Isocrates and the Rise of the Science of Government. 
The success of Thucydides' work shows that the interest of the 
Athenians was no longer in poetry but in the new and more youth- 
ful art of prose. The teachers of rhetoric at Athens, the successors 
of the old Sophists (§208), became world-renowned, and they 
made the city the center of education for the whole Greek world. 
The leader among them was Isocrates. He chose as his theme 
the great politicaL questions of his time. He was not a good 
speaker, and he therefore devoted himself especially to the writing 
of his speeches, which he then published as political essays. 
Throughout Greece these remarkable essays were read, and 
Isocrates finally became the political spokesman of Athens, if not 



1 66 History of Europe 

of all Greece. In such discussions there arose a new science, the 
science of government. 

Plato, the most gifted pupil of Socrates, was deeply interested 
in these new discussions. He published much of his beloved 
master's teaching in the form of dialogues, supposedly giving the 
discussions of the great teacher himself. Convinced of the hope- 
lessness of democracy in Athens, he reluctantly gave up all thought 
of a career as a statesman, to which he had been strongly drawn, 
and settled down at Athens to devote himself to teaching. His 
school was in the grove of the Academy (§ 207). 

In a noble essay entitled The Republic Plato presented a lofty 
vision of his ideal state and government. It was the self- 
cofitained, self-controlling city-state as it had in times past sup- 
posedly existed in Greece. He failed to perceive that the vital 
question for Greece now was the relation of these city-states to 
each other. He did not discern that the life of a cultivated state 
unavoidably passes beyond its own borders and by its needs and 
its contributions affects the life of surrounding states. It cannot 
be confined within its political borders, for its commercial borders 
lie as far distant as transportation can carry its produce. 

251. Growth of a Hellenized World. Thus boundary lines 
cannot separate nations ; their life overlaps and mingles with the 
life round about them. It was so within Greece, and it was so 
far beyond the borders of Greek territory. There had thus grown 
up a civilized world which was reading Greek books, using Greek 
utensils, fitting up its houses with Greek furniture, decorating its 
house interiors with Greek paintings, building Greek theaters, 
learning Greek tactics in war — a great eastern Mediterranean and 
oriental world made up of many peoples bound together by com- 
merce, travel, and common business interests. For this world, as 
a coming political unity, the lofty idealist Plato, in spite of much 
travel, had no eyes. 

252. Disunion the End of Greek Political Development. 
Men in practical life, like Isocrates, clearly understood the situa- 
tion at this time. Isocrates urged the Greeks to bury their petty 
differences and enlarge their purely sectional patriotism into 



The Final Conflicts among the Greek States 167 

loyalty toward a great nation which should unite the whole Greek 
world. He told his countrymen that so united they could easily 
overthrow the decaying Persian Empire and make themselves lords 
of the world, whereas now/ while they continued to fight among 
themselves, the king of Persia could do as he pleased with them. 
To all Greeks who had read Xenophon's story of the march 
of his Ten Thousand (§ 237) the weakness of the Persian Empire 
was evident. Every motive toward unity was present. 

Nevertheless, no Greek city was willing to submit to the leader- 
ship of another. Local patriotism, like the sectionalism which 
brought on our Civil War, prevailed everywhere, and unalterable 
disunion was the end of Greek political development. As a result 
the Greeks were now to become subjects of an outside power 
(§ 254), which had never had any share in advancing Greek 
culture. 

253. Estimate of Greek Achievement after Pericles. But 
in spite of this final and melancholy collapse of Greek politi- 
cal power, what an incomparably glorious age of Greek civili- 
zation was this which we have been sketching ! The rivalries 
which proved so fatal to the political leadership of the Greeks had 
been a constant incentive spurring them all on, as each city strove 
to surpass its rivals in art and literature and all the finest things 
in civilization. Great as the age of Pericles had been, the age 
that followed was still greater. The tiny Athenian state, with 
an area not larger than that of our little state of Delaware, 
and having at best twenty-five or thirty thousand citizens, had fur- 
nished in this period a group of great names in all lines of human 
achievement such as never in all the history of the world arose 
elsewhere in an area and a population so limited. Their names 
to-day are aroong the most illustrious in human history, and the 
achievements which we link with them form the greatest chapter 
in the higher life of man. Furthermore, Greek genius was to go 
on to many another future triumph, in spite of the loss of that 
political leadership which we are now to see passing into other 
hands. . 



1 68 



History of Europe 



.,.._. ..QUESTIONS 

I. I)'esci1t)e Sparta's "rule 'over the GreeRs." What is an oUgarchy ? 
What can you say of banking and finance ? Discuss the mihtary riien 
of this time. In what did the rule of Sparta result? — ■ - - 

II. What did the Thebans do? What was the result of the war? 
Tell about the peace congress at Sparta. What was the result? Who 
planned the Battle of Leuctra ? What state was then leader of Greece ? 
What was the outcome ? Was there any other state capable of uniting 
and leading the Greeks ? 

III. Who was now the leading Greek sculptor ? What progress did 
his work show ? What form did painting now take ? Who was the 
leading painter ? What progress did his work show ? 

IV. In what ways was the age after Pericles one of conflict ? How 
did an Athenian boy gain his ideas about the gods ? How did doubts 
arise in his mind? What did he read? How did this, affect his 
doubts ? Who was Socrates and how did he teach ? What was his 
chief interest ? How did he attempt to improve the State ? What was 
the people's impression about him? How did they finally treat him? 

What progress was made in history-writing ? By whom ? What can 
you say of Isocrates ? Tell about the views of Plato. Describe the 
Hellenized world. What was the result of Greek political development ? 

Note. This tailpiece shows the Oasis of Siwa in the Sahara (see § 268). 




^-^ ^~-^^^^i^^^*^i^^^^S=^..^..s^-^ 




CHAPTER XII 
ALEXANDER THE GREAT AND THE HELLENISTIC AGE 

I. The Rise of Macedonia 

254. Uncultivated States of the Balkan Peninsula. The 
backward and barbarous Northern peoples in Thrace and Mace- 
donia spoke Indo-European tongues akin to Greek, but their Greek 
kindred of the South could not understand them. A little Greek 
civilization began here and there to improve somewhat the rough 
and uncultivated life of the population of Macedonia. The 
Macedonian kings commenced to cultivate Greek literature and 
art, and the mother of Philip, king of Macedon, was grateful 
that she had been able to learn to write in her old age. 

255. Philip of Macedon and his New Army. Philip himself 
had enjoyed a Greek education, and when he gained the power 
over Macedonia, in 360 b. e., he understood perfectly the weakness 



Note. The headpiece above (on the right) is a pleasing example of the Alexandrian 
art of mosaic^ the art of putting together brightly colored bits of glass or stone and 
forming figures or designs with them, as a child puts together a puzzle picture. It was 
an old Egyptian art (see scene at left), carried on by the Greeks at Alexandria, where 
they seem to have Teamed it and used it in making beautiful pavements (§ 279). " 

169 



170 



History oj Europe 



of the disunited Greek world. With the ability of a skilled 
statesman and an able soldier he planned to make himself master 
of the Greeks. Out of the peasant population of his kingdom 
Philip formed a permanent, or standing, army of professional sol- 
diers. The infantrymen soon became famous as the " Macedonian 
phalanx." Heretofore horsemen had played but a small part in 
war in Europe.. Philip now drilled a large body of riders to move 
about together and to attack in a single mass, either alone or with 

the phalanx, so that the whole com- 
bined force, infantry and cavalry, 
moved as one great unit, an irresist- 
ible machine in which every part 
worked together with all the others. 
256. Philip gains the Leadership 
of the Greeks (338 B.C.). Philip 
then steadily extended the territory 
of his kingdom eastward and north- 
ward until it reached the Danube 
and the Hellespont. His progress on 
the north of the ^gean soon brought 
him into conflict with the interests of 
the Greek states, which owned cities 
in this northern region. Two parties 
then arose at Athens. One of them 
was quite willing to accept Philip's 
proffered friendship and to recognize in him the uniter and savior 
of the Greek world. The leader of this party was Isocrates (§252), 
now an aged man. The other party, on the contrary, denounced 
Philip as a barbarous tyrant who was endeavoring to enslave the 
free Greek cities. The leader of this anti-Macedonian party was the 
great orator Demosthenes (Fig, 50). His Philippics, as his 
public speeches denouncing King Philip are called, are among the 
greatest and noblest specimens of Greek eloquence. 

After a long series of hostilities Philip defeated the Greek forces 
in a final battle at Chaeronea (338 B.C.) and firmly established 
his position as head of a league of all the Greek states except 




Fig. 50. Portrait Bust 
OF Demosthenes 



Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age 171 

Sparta, which still held out against him. He had begun oper- 
ations in Asia Minor intended to set free the Greek cities there, 
when, two years after the Battle of Chseronea, he was stabbed by 
conspirators during the revelries at the wedding of his daughter 
(336 B.C.). 

257. Education and Character of Alexander the Great. The 
power passed into the hands of Philip's son Alexander, a youth of 
only twenty years. Seven years before, when Alexander was thir- 
teen years of age, his father had summoned to the Macedonian 
court the great philosopher Aristotle (§286), a former pupil of 
Plato, to be the teacher of the young prince. Under his instruction 
the lad learned to know and love the masterpieces of Greek litera- 
ture, especially the Homeric songs. The deeds of the ancient 
heroes touched and kindled his youthful imagination and lent a 
heroic tinge to his whole character. As he grew older and his 
mind ripened, his whole personality was aglow with, the splendor 
of Greek genius and Hellenic culture. 

II. Campaigns of Alexander the Great 

258. Alexander subjugates the Greek States. The Greek 
states were still unwilling to submit to Macedonian leadership, and 
they fancied they could easily overthrow so youthful a ruler as 
Alexander. They were soon to learn how old a head there was on 
his young shoulders. When Thebes revolted against Macedonia 
for the second time after Philip's death, Alexander captured and 
completely destroyed the ancient city of Thebes, sparing only 
the house of the great poet Pindar (§174). All Greece was thus 
taught to fear and respect his power, but learned at the same time 
to recognize his reverence for Greek culture. The Greek states, 
therefore, with the exception of Sparta, formed a league and 
elected Alexander as its leader and general. As a result they 
all sent troops to increase his army. . 

259. Alexander, the Champion of Hellas against Asia. The 
Asiatic campaign which Alexander now planned was to make it 
clear that he was the champion of Hellas against Asia. He 



172 History oj Europe 

thought to lead the united Greeks against the Persian lord of 
Asia, as the Hellenes had once made common cause against Asiatic 
Troy (§ 133). Leading his army into Asia Minor, he therefore 
stopped at Troy and camped upon the plain (Fig. 33, arid map, 
p. 176) where the Greek heroes of the Homeric songs had once 
fought. Here he worshiped in the temple of Athena and prayed 
for the success of his cause against Persia. He thus contrived to 
throw around himself the heroic memories of the Trojan War, 
till all Hellas beheld the dauntless figure of the Macedonian youth 
as if he had stepped out of that glorious age which in their belief 
had long ago united Greek arms against Asia (§133). 

260. Battle of the Granicus (334 B.C.) and Conquest of 
Asia Minor. Meantime the Great King had hired thousands of 
Greek heavy-armed infantry, and they were now to do battle 
against their own Greek countrymen. At the river Granicus, in 
his first critical battle, Alexander had no difficulty in scattering 
the forces of the western Persian satraps. Marching southward 
he took the Greek cities one by one and freed all western Asia 
Minor forever from the Persian yoke. 

Alexander then pushed boldly eastward and rounded the north- 
east corner of the Mediterranean. Here, as he looked out upon 
the Fertile Crescent, there was spread out before him the vast 
Asiatic world of forty million souls, where the family of the Great 
King had been supreme for two hundred years. In this great 
arena he was to be the champion for the next ten years (333- 
323 B.C.). 

261. Defeat of Darius III at the Battle of Issus (333 b.c). 
At this important point, by the Gulf of Issus (see map, p. 176), 
Alexander met the main army of Persia, under the personal com- 
mand of the Great King, Darius III, the last of the Persian line. 
The Macedonians swept the Asiatics from the field (see Ancient 
Times, Fig. 202 ) , and the disorderly retreat of Darius never 
stopped until it had crossed the Euphrates. The Great King 
then sent a letter to Alexander desiring terms of peace and offering 
to accept the Euphrates as a boundary between them, all Asia 
west of that river to be handed over to the Macedonians. 



Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age 173 

262. Alexander's Decision after Issus. It was a dramatic 
picture, the figure of the young king standing with this letter 
in his hand. As he pondered it he was surrounded by a group of 
the ablest Macedonian youth, who had grown up around him as 
his closest friends ; but likewise by old and trusted counselors 
upon whom his father before him had leaned. As he considered 
the letter of Darius III, therefore, his father's old general Par- 
menio proffered him serious counsel, and, pointing out across the 
Mediterranean, he bade Alexander remember the Persian fleet 
operating there in his rear and likely to stir up revolt against 
him in Greece. There was nothing to do, said Parmenio, but to 
accept the terms offered by the Great King. 

In this critical decision lay the parting of the ways. Before 
the kindling eyes of the young Alexander there rose a vision of 
world empire controlled by Greek civilization — a vision to which 
the duller eyes about him were entirely closed. He waved aside his 
father's old counselors and decided to advance to the conquest of 
the whole Persian Empire. In this far-reaching decision he showed 
himself at once as the strong man who represented a new age. 

263. Conquest of Phoenicia and Egypt. The danger from 
the Persian fleet was now carefully and deliberately met by a 
march southward along the eastern end of the Mediterranean, 
All the Phoenician seaports on the way were captured. Feeble 
Egypt, so long a Persian province, then fell an easy prey to the 
Macedonian arms. The Persian fleet, thus deprived of all its 
home harbors and cut off from its home government, soon scat- 
tered and disappeared. 

264. Alexander Lord of the Ancient East (330 B.C.). Having 
thus cut off the hostile fleet in his rear, Alexander returned from 
Egypt to Asia, and, marching eastward along the Fertile Crescent, 
he crossed the Tigris close by the mounds which had long covered 
the ruins of Nineveh. Here, near Arbela, the Great King had 
gathered his forces for a last stand (see map, p. 176). Although 
greatly outnumbered, the Macedonians crushed the Asiatic army 
and forced the Persians into disgraceful flight. In a few days 
Alexander was living in the winter palace of Persia. in Babylon, 



174 History oj Europe 

As Darius III fled into the eastern mountains he was stabbed 
by his own treacherous attendants (330 B.C.). Alexander rode 
up with a few of his officers in time to look upon the body of the 
last of the Persian emperors, the lord of Asia, whose vast realm 
had now passed into his hands. Thus at last both the valley of the 
Nile and the Fertile Crescent, the homes of the two earliest civili- 
zations, were now in the hands of a European power and under the 
control of a newer and higher civilization. Less than five years 
had passed since the young Macedonian had entered Asia. He 
continued eastward through the original little kingdom of the 
Persians, whence Cyrus, the founder of the Persian Empire, had 
victoriously come forth over two hundred years before (see § 97). 

265. Alexander's Campaigns in the Far East (330-324 B.C.) 
and his Return to Babylon (323 B.C.). In the course of the next 
five years, while the Greek world looked on in amazement, the 
young Macedonian seemed to disappear in the mists on the far- 
off eastern fringes of the known world. He marched his army in 
one vast loop after another through the heart of the Iranian 
plateau (see map, p. 176), northward across the Oxus and the 
Jaxartes rivers, southward across the Indus and the frontiers of 
India, into the valley of the Ganges, where at last the complaints 
of his weary troops forced him to turn back. 

He descended the Indus and even sailed the waters of the 
Indian Ocean. Then he began his westward march again along 
the shores of the Indian Ocean, accompanied by a fleet which 
he had built on the Indus. The return march through desert 
wastes cost many lives as the thirsty and ill-provisioned troops 
dropped by the way. Over seven years after he had left the great 
city of Babylon, Alexander entered it again. He had been less 
than twelve years in Asia, and he had carried Greek civilization 
into the very heart of the continent. At important points along 
his line of march he had founded Greek cities bearing his name 
and had set up kingdoms which were to be centers of Greek in- 
fluence on the frontiers of India. Never before had East and 
West so interpenetrated as in these amazing marches and cam- 
paigns of Alexander, 




Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age 175 

« 

III. International Policy of Alexander : its 
Personal Consequences 

266. Alexander's Endeavor to merge European and Asiatic 
Civilization. Meantime Alexander had been applying himself 
constantly to the organization and administration of his vast con- 
quests. He believed in the power and superiority of Greek cul- 
ture. He was determined to Hellenize the world and to unite 
Asia with Europe by transplanting colonies of Greeks and Mace- 
donians. On the other hand, he also felt that he could not rule 
the world as a Macedonian, but must make concessions to the 
Persian world (plate, p. 182). He therefore appointed Persians 
to high offices and set them over provinces as satraps. He even 
adopted Persian raiment in part. Finally he married Roxana, 
an Asiatic princess, and at a gorgeous wedding festival he obliged 
his officers and friends also to marry the daughters of Asiatic 
nobles. 

267. His Plans to conquer the Western Mediterranean. In 
the midst of all this he carefully worked out a plan of campaign 
for the conquest of the western Mediterranean. The plan in- 
cluded instructions for the building of a fleet of a thousand battle- 
ships with which to subdue Italy, Sicily, and Carthage. It also 
included the construction of a vast roadway along the northern 
coast of Africa, to be built at enormous expense, to furnish a 
highway for his army from Egypt to Carthage and the Atlantic. 

268. Deification of Alexander. What was to be his own 
position in this colossal world-state of which he dreamed ? Many 
a great Greek had come to be recognized as a god, and there was 
in Greek belief no sharp line dividing gods from men. Alex- 
ander found in this attitude of the Greek mind the solution of 
the question of his own position. He would have himself lifted 
to a place among the gods. As a god he might impose his will 
upon the Greek cities without offense. This solution was the more 
easy because it had for ages been customary to regard the king 
as divine in Egypt, where he was a son of the Sun-god, and the 
idea was a common one in the Orient. 



176 History of Europe 

In Egypt therefore, seven years before, he had taken the time 
to march with a small following far out into the Sahara Desert 
to the Oasis of Siwa, where there was a famous shrine of Amon. 
The oracles of Amon at Siwa enjoyed the respect of the whole 
Greek world. Here in the vast solitude Alexander entered the 
holy place alone. No one knew what took place there, but when 
he came out he was greeted by the high priest of the temple 
as the son of the god Amon. Alexander took good care that 
Greece should hear of this remarkable event (see tailpiece, p. 168). 

Four years later the young king found that this divinity which 
he claimed lacked outward and visible signs. He adopted oriental 
usages, among which was the requirement that all who approached 
him on official occasions should bow down to the earth and kiss 
his feet. He also sent formal notification to all the Greek cities 
that the league of which he had been head was disbanded, that 
he was henceforth to be officially numbered among the gods of 
each city, and that as such he was to receive the State offerings 
which each city presented. Thus were introduced into Europe 
absolute monarchy and the divine right of kings. 

269. Personal Consequences suffered by Alexander. This 
superhuman station of the world-king Alexander was gained at 
tragic cost to Alexander the Macedonian youth and to the old 
friends and followers about him. They could not comprehend 
the necessity for measures which strained or snapped entirely 
those bonds of friendship which linked together comrades in arms. 
And then there were the Persian intruders, given high offices and 
treated like the equals of his personal friends (plate, p. 182) or 
even placed over them ! Differences about these things caused 
the death of many of Alexander's old-time friends. Indeed, in a 
fit of rage, he himself murdered Clitus, who in the battle of the 
Granicus had saved his life, and who now had dared to reproach 
him openly. Thereupon, as we see the king in abject remorse 
sitting for three days in his tent, speechless with grief, refusing 
all food, and restrained only by his officers from taking his own 
life, we gather some slight impression of the terrible personal cost 
of Alexander's state policy. 



Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age 177 

270. Death of Alexander (323 B.C.) and Some of its Con- 
sequences. As Alexander was preparing for a campaign to sub- 
jiigate the Arabian peninsula and leave him free to carry out his 
great plans for the conquest of the western Mediterranean, he fell 
sick, probably as the result of a drunken debauch, and after a 
few days died (323 b.c). He was thirty-three years of age and 
had reigned thirteen years. 

Alexander has been well termed '^the Great." Few men of 
genius, and certainly none in so brief a career, have left so in- 
delible a mark upon the course of human affairs. By his remark- 
able conquests he gave to the Greeks that political leadership 
which the triumph of their civilization had never before gained 
for them. His death in the midst of his colossal designs was a 
fearful calamity, for it made impossible forever the unification of 
Hellas and of the civilized world of that day by the power of that 
gifted race which was then civilizing the world. But his amazing 
conquests had placed the Orient under Western, that is, European, 
leaders, and from that day to this — with some intervals — the 
effort to force Western leadership on the Orient has continued. 

IV. The Heirs of Alexander's Empire 

271. Division of Alexander's Realm ; the Ptolemies in 
Egypt. After a generation of exhausting wars by land and sea, 
Alexander's empire fell into three main parts,- — ^in Europe, Asia, 
and Africa, — with one of his generals, or one of their successors, 
at the head of each. In Europe, Macedonia was in the hands of 
Antigonus, grandson of Alexander's commander of the same name. 
He endeavored also to maintain control of Greece. In Asia most of 
the territory of the former Persian Empire was under the rule of 
Alexander's general Seleucus ; while in Africa, Egypt was held by 
Ptolemy, one of the cleverest of Alexander's Macedonian leaders. 
He gradually made himself king and became the founder of a 
dynasty or family of kings, whom we call the Ptolemies. Ptolemy 
at once saw that he would be constantly obliged to draw Greek 
mercenary troops from Greece. With statesmanlike judgment 



178 History oj Europe 

he therefore built up a fleet which gave him the mastery of the 
Mediterranean. He took up his residence at the great harbor 
city of Alexandria, the city which Alexander had founded in the 
western Nile Delta. For nearly a century (roughly the third 
century b. c.) the eastern Mediterranean from Greece to Syria 
and from the ^gean to the Nile Delta was an Egyptian sea. Thus 
under Macedonian leaders arose an Egyptian empire in the eastern 
Mediterranean like that which we found nearly a thousand years 
earlier (§49). 

272. The Asiatic Empire of the Seleucids. The Seleucids 
(as we call Seleucus and his descendants) were not as powerful 
as the Ptolemies. Nevertheless they were the chief heirs of Alex- 
ander, for they held the larger part of his empire, extending at 
first from the .i^gean to the frontiers of India. Its boundaries 
were not fixed, and its enormous extent made it very difficult to 
govern and maintain. The fleet of the Ptolemies hampered the 
commercial development and prosperity of the Seleucids, who 
therefore found it difficult to reach Greece for trade, troops, or 
colonists. They gave special attention to Syria, the region around 
the northeast corner of the Mediterranean reaching to the 
Euphrates. This empire is therefore often called Syria. Here, 
on the lower Orontes, Seleucus founded the great city which 
he called Antioch (after his father, Antiochus). It finally enjoyed 
great prosperity and became the commercial rival of Alexandria 
and the greatest seat of commerce in the northern Mediterranean 
(see map, p. 176). 

273. The Macedonian Empire of the Antigonids. Compared 
v/ith her two great rivals in Egypt and Asia, Macedonia in Europe 
seemed small indeed. Here Antigonus II, grandson of Alexander's 
general, became king (277 b.c). He built a war fleet at vast 
expense, and in a long naval war with the Ptolemies he twice 
defeated the Egyptian fleet, thereby freeing the eastern Mediter- 
ranean from the former control of Egypt. 

274. Decline of Greece. Greece was no longer commercial 
leader of the Mediterranean. The victories of Alexander the Great 
had opened up the vast Persian Empire to Greek commercial 



Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age 179 

colonists, who poured into all the favorable centers of trade. 
Not only did Greece decline in population but commercial pros- 
perity and the leadership in trade passed eastward, especially to 
Alexandria and Antioch. As the Greek cities lost their wealth they 
could no longer support fleets or mercenary armies, and they soon 
became too feeble to protect themselves. Although they began to 
combine in alliances or federations for mutual protection, they 
were unable to throw off the Macedonian yoke. In spite of the 
political feebleness of the Greeks in this age, their civilization 
reached its highest level under the successors of Alexander. 

V. The Civilization of the Hellenistic Age 

275. The Hellenistic Age. The three centuries following the 
death of Alexander we call the Hellenistic Age, meaning the 
period in which Greek civilization spread throughout the ancient 
world, especially the Orient, and was itself much modified by the 
culture of the Orient. The Orientals now had Greek-speaking 
rulers whose government and affairs were carried on in the Greek 
language.^ This was the Greek spoken in Attica. The Orientals 
transacted business with multitudes of Greek merchants ; they 
found many Greek books, attracting them to read. Attic Greek 
thus gradually became the daily language of the great cities and 
of an enormous world stretching from Sicily (Fig. 69) and south- 
ern Italy eastward on both sides of the Mediterranean and thence 
far into the Orient. 

Civilized life in the cities enjoyed more comfort and was better 
equipped than ever before. The citizen's house (Fig. 51) was 
more beautifully furnished and decorated (§279), and for the 
first time it now possessed its own water pipes connected with the 
town water supply. The streets also were equipped with drainage 
channels or pipes, a thing unknown in the days of Pericles. 

276. Rise of Secular Public Buildings. In the public build- 
ings also a great change had taken place. The architects of the 

1 For a fuller sketch of Hellenistic civilization see Ancient Tintes, §§ 727-768. 



i8o 



History of Europe 



Hellenistic Age began to design the first large and splendid build- 
ings to house the offices of the government. These stately public 
buildings were erected in the heart of the city, where in early 
Greek and oriental cities the castle of the king had once stood. ^ 




Fig. 51. Ground Plan of the House of a Wealthy Greek Built 

IN THE Hellenistic Age 

The rooms are arranged around a central court {A/) which is open to the sky. 
A roofed porch with columns (called a peristyle) surrounds the court 
(cf. Figs. II and 60). The main entrance is at N, with the room of the door- 
keeper on the right {A). At the corner is a shop {B). C, D, and £ are for 
storage and housekeeping, i^ is a back-door entry through which supplies 
were delivered ; it contained a stairway to the second floor. G was used as 
a small living room, with an inner living room {/) beside it. It had a built-in 
divan, and the entire side toward the peristyle was open. The finest room 
in the house was I/, measuring about sixteen by twenty-six feet, with a mosaic 
floor, in seven colors, and richly decorated walls. It was lighted by a large 
door and two windows, and was accessible also by the passage Z. A' was a 
little bathroom, with a large marble bathtub. The sleeping rooms were all 
on the second floor, which cannot now be reconstructed. 7 was a second tiny 
shop. This house was excavated by the French on the island of Delos 

277. Alexandria : its Commerce and Splendid Public Build- 
ings. In numbers, wealth, commerce, power, and in all the arts 
of civilization, Alexandria was now the greatest city of the whole 
ancient world. Along the harbors stretched the extensive Alex- 
andrian docks, where ships which had braved the Atlantic storms 

1 For the interesting town of Priene see Ancient Times, pp. 460-461. 




Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age i8i 

)ff the coasts of Spain and Africa moored beside oriental craft 
which had penetrated even to the gates of the Indian Ocean and 
gathered the wares of the vast oriental world beyond. From far 
across the sea the mariners approaching at night could catch the 
light of a lofty beacon shining from a gigantic lighthouse tower 
which marked the entrance of the harbor of Alexandria. This 
wonderful tower, the tallest building ever erected by a Hellenistic 
engineer, was a descendant of the old Babylonian temple-tower 
(see Ancient Times, p. 170 and Figs. 213 and 272), with which it 
was closely related. 

From the deck of a great merchant ship, of over four thousand 
tons the incoming traveler might look cityward past the lighthouse 
and beyond the great war fleet of the Ptolemies and see, embowered 
in the rich green masses of tropical verdure, the magnificent marble 
buildings of Alexandria : the royal palace, the museum, the gym- 
nasiums, baths, stadiums, assembly hall, concert hall, market 
places, and basilicas, all surrounded by the residence quarters of 
the citizens. Unfortunately, not one of the splendid buildings of 
ancient Alexandria still stands. 

278. Athenian Sculpture. We are more fortunate in the case 
of Pergamum (map, p. 90), another splendid city of this age 
which grew up under Athenian influences (Fig. 52). One of the 
kings of Pergamum defeated and beat off the hordes of Gauls 
who had come in from Europe. This achievement greatly stirred 
the Attic sculptors who were supported by the kings of Perga- 
mum. They carved heroic marble figures of the Northern bar- 
barians in the tragic moment of death in battle (Fig. 63 ; see also 
Ancient Times, Figs. 215 and 216). This same struggle with the 
Gauls was also suggested by an enormous band of relief sculpture 
depicting the mythical battle between the gods and the giants 
(Fig. 64). This vast work extended almost entirely around a 
colossal altar (Fig. 52, A) erected by the kings of Pergamum in 
honor of Zeus, to adorn the market place of the city. Among the 
best works of the Athenian sculptors of this age were also the 
reliefs on a wonderful marble sarcophagus, showing the great 
deeds of Alexander the Great (plate, p. 182). 



l82 



History of Europe 



279. Painting and Mosaic. The great Greek painters of this 
age also loved to depict intensely dramatic and tragic incidents. 
Their original works have all perished, but copies of some of them 
have survived in the Italian city of Pompeii, painted on the walls 
as interior decorations of fine houses or worked out in mosaic as 
floor pavement (see headpiece and Note, p. 169). 




Fig. 52. Restoration of the Public Buildings of Pergamum, 
A Hellenistic City of Asia Minor. (After Thiersch) 

Pergamum, on the west coast of Asia Minor (see map, p. 90), became a 
flourishing city-kingdom in the third century B.C. under the successors of 
Alexander the Great (§ 271). The dwellipgs of the citizens were all lower 
down, in front of the group of buildings shown here. These public buildings 
stand on three terraces — lower, middle, and upper. The large /ozoer terrace 
{A) was the main market place, adorned with a vast square marble altar of 
Zeus, having colonnades on three sides, beneath which was a long sculptured 
band (frieze) of warring gods and giants (Fig. 64). On the middle terrace 
(Z?), behind the colonnades, was the famous library of Pergamum, where the 
stone bases of library shelves still survive. The upper terrace (C) once 
contained the palace of the king; the temple now there was built by the 
Roman Emperor Trajan in the second century of the Christian era 

280. Mechanical Progress ; Archimedes and Science. The 
keen and wide-awake intelligence of this wonderful age was every- 
where evident, but especially in the application of science to the 
work and needs of daily life. It was an age of inventions ; for 
example, the screw and the cogwheel were now invented. One of 






13 


»4-l 


75 


.2 






c 


"3 




13 
C 






D 






rt 






O 




'u 








> 




O 


.. 






? 


>< 




^ 




H 


u 


a 




-4-' 

o] 


. 


< 


J= 


C 


■♦-) 


1) 


■^ 


W 


-t-* 


c 


-D 


Q 


a 


(U 


2 


o 












P3 


1) 


s: 


u^ 


.- 


V 




■^3 


^"^ 




'a, 
o 


4_) 




a 




/s^ 


cfl 


o 

o 


:« 
X 


1) 


V 

^J 




O 


aj 


< 


<: 
^ 


< 

X 


> 


c 
o 


V 
u 

03 


u 

4-> 


i-T 


-a 




en 


0! 


4-1 

c 


< 


V 

(J 


T3 

c 

>< 




bJO 
C 




a, 

h 


03 


1) 
< 




o 
c 


-4-* 




O 


■-t-H 
O 


C/D 


1) 


4-J 


O 


c 
o 


■4-J 

c 


cc 


03 

6 








13 


c 




CJ 






C 

■4-> 


c 

o 


en 

03 




2 




u 
O 




H- 1 

c3 




D 




"TS 


rt 






K 




C 


TD 


"a 
o 
_c 
■*-» 
c 

03 


o 


< 


_4J 


V 

c 
.3 


C 
D 
O 


tn 

O 


m 


■^ 


3 


en 


^ 


Pi 


01 


'35 


be 


C 


-)-' 




lU 




OS 

4= 


o 

u 


tn 




tUD 


f-H 


&, 




re 


C 




<; 


O 

o 


C3 




;z; 


u 




)-< 




be 


<; 


o 




tn 


S 

3 




w 
-x 


3 




en 




w 


O 


(fl 


u 


o 




tn 


M 


0] 

e 




o 


<u 
-a 


)H 


rt 


1) 


o 




^ 


O 


-♦-» 






c 


■? 


_C 






X 


c 


c 

3.J 


^ 






•~;i 


o 


o 


c 





Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age 183 

the famous feats of the great scientist Archimedes was his arrange- 
ment of a series of pulleys and levers, which so multiplied power 
that the king was able by turning a light crank to move a large 
three-masted ship standing fully loaded on the dock and to launch 
it into the water. After witnessing such feats as this the people 
easily believed his proud boast, "Give me a place to stand on 
and I will move the earth." But Archimedes was far more than 
an inventor of practical appliances. He was a scientific investi- 
gator of the first rank, the discoverer of what science now calls 
specific gravity. Besides his skill in physics he was also the 
greatest of ancient mathematicians. 

281. The Alexandrian Scientists. Although Archimedes lived 
in Syracuse he was in close correspondence with his friends in 
Alexandria, who formed the greatest body of scientists in the 
ancient world. They lived together at the Museum, where they 
were paid salaries and supported by the Ptolemies. They formed 
the first scientific institution founded and supported by a govern- 
ment. They became the founders of systematic scientific research, 
and their books were consulted as containing almost all the 
scientific knowledge of mankind for nearly two thousand years, 
until the revival of science in modern times. 

The most famous mathematician among them was Euclid. His 
complete system of geometry was so logically built up that in 
modern England Euclid's geometry is still retained as a school- 
book — the oldest schoolbook in use to-day. Along with mathe- 
matics much progress was also made in astronomy. The Ptolemies 
built an astronomical observatory at Alexandria ; and although it 
was, of course, without telescopes, important observations and 
discoveries were made. An astronomer of little fame named 
Aristarchus, who lived on the island of Samos, even discovered 
that the planets revolve around the sun, though few people would 
believe him and his discovery was forgotten. 

Astronomy had now greatly aided in the progress of geography. 
Eratosthenes, a great mathematical astronomer of Alexandria, very 
cleverly computed the approximate size of the earth. Much new 
information had also been gained regarding the extent and the 



1 84 History of Europe 

character of the new regions reached by navigation and explo- 
ration in this age from the eastern coast of India to the British 
Isles. Eratosthenes was therefore able to write a more accurate 
geography than anyone before his time. It contained the first map 
bearing a cross-net of lines indicating latitude and longitude. He 
thus became the founder of scientific geography. 

In the study of animal and vegetable life Aristotle and his 
pupils were the leaders, and the ancient world never outgrew 
their observations (§286). For the study of anatomy there was 
a laboratory in Alexandria, at the Museum, which the Ptolemies 
furnished with condemned criminals, on whom vivisection was 
practiced. In this way the nerves were discovered to be the lines 
along which sensations pass to the brain. Such research even 
came very near to discovering the circulation of the blood. Alex- 
andria became the greatest center of medical research in the 
ancient world, and here young men studied to be physicians, much 
as they do in our medical schools to-day. 

282. The Alexandrian Library and Book Publishing. Be- 
sides these natural sciences, there was now also much study of 
literature. The first library founded and supported by a Greek 
government had arisen during the childhood of Alexander the 
Great (not long before 350 B.C.). All such efforts were far sur- 
passed by the Ptolemies at Alexandria, where their library finally 
contained over half a million rolls. The immense amount of hand 
copying required to secure good and accurate editions of famous 
works for this library gradually created the new science of editing 
and publishing correctly old and often badly copied works.^ This 
naturally required much language study, and the Alexandrian 
scholars then began to write the first grammars and dictionaries. 

283. Hellenistic Literature. Literature was to a large extent 
in the hands of such learned men as those of Alexandria. Forsak- 
ing war and tragedy, these scholars loved to picture such scenes as 
the shepherd at the spring, listening to the music of overhanging 
boughs, lazily watching his ilocks, and dreaming the while of some 
winsome village maid who has scorned his devotion. In such 

1 See a page from the oldest surviving Greek book in Ancient Times^ Fig. 223. 



Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age 185 

verse the greatest literary artist of the age was a Sicilian named 
Theocritus, whose idyls have taken a permanent place in the 
world's literature for two thousand years. 

284. Education : Elementary Schools and Gymnasiums. In 
such a cultivated world education had made much progress. The 
elementary schools, once private, were now often supported by the 
State. When the lad had finished at the elementary school, his 
father allowed him to attend lectures on rhetoric, science, 
philosophy, and mathematics in the lecture rooms of the gym- 
nasium building. Such an atmosphere was one to create great 
interest in study, and often a youth besought his father to allow 
him a few years of study at the Museum or in the schools of 
philosophy at Athens in preparation for a profession. 

285. The Alexandrian Museum as a University. As the 
student strolled through the beautiful royal gardens of Alexandria 
and entered the Museum building, he found going on there lec- 
tures on astronomy, geography, physics, mathematics, botany, 
zoology, anatomy, medicine, or rhetoric, grammar, and literature. 

286. The Schools of the University at Athens ; Aristotle. 
Athens was still the leading home of philosophy. The youth who 
went there to take up philosophical studies found the successors 
of Plato still continuing his teaching in the quiet grove of the 
Academy (§ 207), where his memory was greatly revered. Plato's 
pupil Aristotle, after having been the teacher of the young Alex- 
ander (§ 257), had returned to Athens, and he also had established 
at the Lyceum (§ 207) a school of his own known as the Peri- 
patetic School, because it occupied a terrace called the "Walk" 
(Greek peripatos) . With the help of groups of his more advanced 
students Aristotle put together a veritable encyclopedia of old 
and new facts in the different natural sciences, besides writing 
many treatises on other subjects, like logic, ethics, psychology, 
the drama, government, etc. The work was never completed, and 
many of the essays and treatises which it included have been lost. 
When Aristotle died, soon after the death of Alexander, his school 
declined. Aristotle's works formed the greatest attempt ever made 
in ancient times to collect and to state in a clear way the whole 



1 86 History of Europe 

mass of human knowledge. The writings of no other man have 
ever enjoyed such widespread and unquestioned authority.^ 

But many Greeks desired some teaching which would lead 
them to a happy and contented frame of mind and guide men in 
their attempts to live successfully. To meet this desire two more 
schools of philosophy arose at Athens. The first, the Stoic School, 
taught that the great aim of life should be a fortitude of soul, 
which comes from virtue and is indifferent both to pleasure and 
to pain. Its followers were famous for their fortitude, and hence 
our common use of the word "stoicism" to indicate indifference 
to suffering. The Stoic School was very popular and finally be- 
came the greatest of the schools of philosophy. The second, the 
Epicurean School, founded by Epicurus in his own garden at 
Athens, taught that the highest good was pleasure, both of body 
and of mind, but always in moderation and in accordance with 
virtue. Its views were highminded but often misunderstood, hence 
even now we call a man devoted to pleasure, especially in eating, 
an " epicure." The school of Epicurus, like the Stoics, flourished 
and attracted many disciples. 

These schools lived on the income of property left them by 
wealthy pupils and friends. We may regard Hellenistic Athens 
then (with its Academy, Lyceum, Stoic School, and Epicurean 
School) as possessing a university made up of four colleges, like 
an English university. The Museum of Alexandria was modeled 
on these Athenian organizations, and they have also become the 
model for academies of science and for universities ever since. 

287. The Fall of the Old Greek Gods. For highly educated 
men the beliefs of Stoicism or Epicureanism served as their 
religion. Such men usually no longer believed in the gods in the 
old way. There was complete freedom of conscience — far more 
freedom than the Christian rulers of later Europe granted their 
subjects. The teachings of Socrates would no longer have caused 
his condemnation by his Athenian neighbors. 

288. Increased Popularity of Oriental Gods. The great mul- 
titude of the common people had not the education to understand 

1 See Outlines of European History^ Part I, p. 547, 



Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age 187 

philosophy nor the means to attend the philosophical schools. 
With the weakening of their faith in the old Greek gods many 
Greeks adopted the gods of the Orient, and these gods became 
more and more popular. Oriental beliefs and oriental symbols 
were everywhere. It was in an age like this that Christianity, an 
oriental religion, later passed easily from land to land (§420). 
More than ever the Orient exerted a steady pressure upon the 
life of the eastern Mediterranean, in commerce, government, cus- 
toms, industry, art, literature, and religion. 

289. The Larger World of the Hellenistic Age. In this 
larger world, with all its foreign, non-Greek life, the old Greek 
c/7>'-citizen, who had made Greek civilization what it was, played 
but a small part. The city-citizen had no share in guiding the 
affairs of the great nation or empire of which his city-state was a 
part. It was as if a citizen of Chicago might vote at the election 
of a mayor of his own city but had no right to vote at the election 
of a president of the United States. There was not even a name 
for the empire of the Seleucids, and their subjects, wherever they 
went, bore the names of their home cities or countries. The con- 
ception of " native land" in our sense was wanting, and patriotism 
did not exist. 

A larger world had thus swallowed up the old Greek city-states. 
For while Greek civilization, with its language, its art, its litera- 
ture, its theaters and gymnasiums, was hellenizing the Orient, the 
Orient in the same way was orientalizing the eastern Mediter- 
ranean world. But this world of the eastern Mediterranean, with 
its mixed Hellenic-oriental civilization, which had grown up as a 
result of Alexander's conquests, had by 200 b.c. reached a point 
when it was to feel the iron hand of a great new military power 
from the distant world of the western Mediterranean. At this point, 
therefore (200 b.c), we shall be unable to understand the further 
storv of the eastern Mediterranean until we have turned back and 
taken up the career of the western Mediterranean world. There 
in the West for some three centuries the city of Rome had been 
developing a power which was to unite both the East and the 
West into a vast empire including the whole Mediterranean, 



1 88 History of Europe 

QUESTIONS 

I. Describe the new military arrangements of Philip of Macedon. 
What two parties arose at Athens ? What was the result of the 
struggle between Philip and the Greeks ? Who succeeded Philip and 
how was he educated ? 

II. How did Alexander deal with the Greeks ? What great war 
did he then begin ? Describe it until his arrival at the Gulf of Issus. 
What happened there ? How was the danger from the Phoenician fleet 
met ? What ancient land was thus conquered ? 

To what country did Alexander then march ? What became of 
the Persian king after the Battle of Arbela ? What was the result ? 
What marches did Alexander then undertake ? How did he establish 
Greek influences in the lands he traversed ? 

III. What was Alexander's policy regarding the relations of Asia 
and Europe ? What further conquests did he plan ? What was to be 
his own position as ruler ? How did he endeavor to secure divine 
honors ? How did this affect his friends ? How did all this affect Alex- 
ander ? What is the date of his death ? Discuss the consequences 
of Alexander's death. 

IV. What three empires resulted from the wars after Alexander's 
death ? Discuss the empire of the Ptolemies ; the empire of the Seleu- 
cids ; the empire of the Antigonids. How did the fall of the Persian 
Empire affect Greece ? How did the rise of Alexandria and Antioch 
affect Greek commerce ? What were the consequences in Greece ? 

V. What is meant by the term " Hellenistic Age " ? What improve- 
ments in houses appeared ? What new kind of pubhc buildings arose ? 
Describe Alexandria ; Pergamum and its sculpture ; painting and 
mosaic. What can you say of inventive ability in the Hellenistic Age ? 
Tell about Archimedes. What place do the Alexandrian scientists oc- 
cupy in the history of science ? 

Discuss Alexandrian publishing and its influence ; literature and 
education. What schools of philosophy arose ? What happened to 
old Greek religion ? Describe the civilization of the eastern Mediter- 
ranean world. What power was now about to lead ? 




BOOK IV. THE ROMANS 



CHAPTER XIII 



THE WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN WORLD AND THE ROMAN 

CONQUEST OF ITALY 

I. The Western Mediterranean World 

290. The Mediterranean the Stage of Ancient History. 
The Mediterranean Sea is a very large body of water, almost as 
long as Europe itself. Its length is about twenty-four hundred 
miles, and laid out across the United States it would reach from 
New York over into California. A land bridge made up of Italy 
and Sicily extends almost across this great sea and divides it 
into two basins, which we may therefore conveniently call the 

Note. The above headpiece shows an ancient bronze wolf (sixth century b.c), 
wrought by Greek artists in Italy (§ 153). and illustrates the influence of Greek civili- 
zation in Rome even before 500 B.C. The two infants nourished by the she-wolf are later 
additions, put there in accordance with the tradition at Rome that the city was founded 
by these tw-in brothers, named Romulus and Remus. Their ancestor, so said thp tradi- 
tion, was /Eneas (§387), one of the Trojan heroes, who had fled from Troy after its 
destruction (§ 133), and after many adventures had arrived in Italy. His son founded 
and became king of .Alba Longa (§ 295). In the midst of a family feud among his de- 
scendants these twin bovs. the sons of the War-god, Mars, were bom, and after they 
had been set adrift in the Tiber by the ruling king, they gently ran aground at the base 
of the Palatine Hill, where a she-wolf found and nourished them. When they grew up 
they founded Rome. Similar legends formed all that the Romans knew of their early 
history through the period of the kings and far down into the Republic. 

189 



1 90 History of Europe 

eastern and western Mediterranean worlds. Since we left pre- 
historic Europe (Chapter I) we have been following the story 
of civilized men in the eastern Mediterranean world ; we must 
now turn back and take up the story of the western Mediterranean 
world also. 

291. Italy : its Geography and Climate. The most important 
land in the western INIediterranean world in early times was Italy. 




The Four Rival Peoples of the Western Mediterranean ; 
Etruscans, Italic Tribes, Greeks, and Carthaginians 



It slopes westward in the main ; it thus faces and belongs to the 
western Mediterranean world. The Italian peninsula (see map, 
p. 192) is nearly six hundred miles long. Italy is not only much 
larger than Greece but, unlike Greece, it is not cut up by a 
tangle of mountains into winding valleys and tiny plains. The 
main chain of the Apennines, though crossing the peninsula ob- 
liquely in the north, is nearly parallel with the coasts. There are 
larger plains for the cultivation of grain than we find anywhere 
in Greece ; and there is also much more room for upland pastur- 
age of flocks and herds. At the same time the coast is not so cut 



The Western Mediterranean World 



191 



up arid indented as in Greece ; there are fewer good harbors. 
Hence agriculture and live stock developed much earlier than 
sea trade. 

292. Western Indo-European Wing enters Italy. Probably 
not long after the Greeks had pushed southward into the Greek 
peninsula ( § 131), the 
western tribes of Indo- 
European blood had 
entered the Italian 
peninsula. The most 
important group, which 
settled in the central 
and southern parts of 
the peninsula, was the 
Italic tribes, the earli- 
est Italians. 

We remember that 
the Greeks, in conquer- 
ing the i^gean, took 
possession of a highly 
civilized region on the 
borders of the Orient. 
This was not the 
case with, the Indo- 
European invaders of 
Italy. They found the 
western Mediterranean 
world still without 
civilization. It had no 
architecture, no fine 




Fig. 53. Etruscan Chariot of Bronze 

This magnificent work shows the abihty of the 
Etruscans in the art of bronze-working (§ 298). 
The chariot was found in an Etruscan tomb in 
Italy; it is of full size and now belongs to the 
Metropolitan Museum of New York City 



buildings, no fortified cities, only the rudest arts and industries, 
no writing, no literature, and no organized governments. 

293. The Three Western Rivals confronting the Italic 
Tribes. After the Italic invaders three rival peoples gradually 
came into the western Mediterranean world. They all came 
from the eastern INIediterranean world. The first of these was a 



192 History oj Europe 

bold race of sea rovers whom we call the Etruscans. Their origin 
is still uncertain, but they probably had an earlier home in west- 
ern Asia Minor. In any case the Etruscans had landed in Italy 
and were settled there by 1000 b.c. They finally gained full 
control of the west coast of Italy from the Bay of Naples 
almost to Genoa, and held the inland country to the Adriatic Sea 
and the Alps (see map, p. 192). 

The Carthaginians were the second of the three rivals of the 
Italic tribes. We remember how the Phoenicians carried their 
commerce far 'into the western Mediterranean after 1000 b.c. 
(§ 139). On the African coast opposite Sicily they established 
a flourishing commercial city called Carthage. It soon became 
the leading harbor in the western Mediterranean. The Cartha- 
ginians finally held the northern coast of Africa westward to the 
Atlantic. Besides gaining southern Spain, they were also conquer- 
ing the islands of the western INIediterranean, especially Sicily. 

While the Carthaginians were endeavoring to make the western 
Mediterranean their own, the Italic peoples saw their third rivals 
invading the West. They were the Greeks. We have already fol- 
lowed the Greek colonies as they founded their city-states along 
the coast of southern Italy and in Sicily in the eighth century 
B.C. (§153). The strongest of all the western Greek cities was 
Syracuse, which took the lead more than once. We recall how 
the Athenians tried to conquer the West by capturing Syracuse 
(§§228-231). 

294. Western Greek Colonies bring Civilization into the 
Western Mediterranean. Although the western Greeks, like 
those in the homeland, fought among themselves and failed to 
unite in a strong and permanent state, they brought the first 
civilization to Italy (§153). Thus fifteen hundred years after 
the barbarous Italic tribes had first settled in Italy there grew 
up on the south of them a wonderful world of Greek civilization, 
which went on developing, to reach its highest point in that 
Hellenistic culture which brought forth an Archimedes at Syracuse 
(§280). Let us now turn back to follow the career of the bar- 
barous Italic tribes of central Italy under the leadership of Rome, 



The Western Mediterranean World 193 

d watch them slowly gaining organization and power and, 
ally, civilization, as they were influenced first by the Etruscans 
their north and then by the Greeks on the south of them. 

II. Earliest Rome 

295. The Tribes of Latium. On the south or east bank of 
i Tiber, which flows into the sea in the middle of the west 
ist of Italy (see map, p. 192), there was a group of Italic tribes 
own as the Latins. In the days when the Etruscan sea raiders 
;t landed on the shores north of the Tiber these Latin tribes 
1 occupied a plain less than thirty by forty miles ; that is, 
aller than many an American county. They called it " Latium," 
ence their own name, "Latins." Like their Italic neighbors 
y lived scattered in small communities, cultivating grain and 
^turing flocks on the upland. Their land was not very fertile, 
1 the struggle for existence developed a strong and hardy 
)ple. Their center was a small town called Alba Longa, whose 
dership the Latin tribes followed when they were obliged to 
te and repel the attacks of their hostile neighbors on all sides, 
ey watched very anxiously the growth of the flourishing Etrus- 
i towns on the other (north) side of the Tiber, and they did what 
y could to keep the Etruscans from crossing to the Latin side. 
J96. The Emergence of Early Rome. When these Latin 
Lsants needed weapons or tools they were obliged to carry 
ir grain or oxen to a trading post on the south side of the 
)er, ten or twelve miles from its mouth (Fig. 54). Several 
ghboring hills bore straggling villages, and there was a strong- 
d on a hill called the Palatine. Here, stopped by the shoals, 
ored now and then an Etruscan ship which had sailed up the 
)er, the only navigable river in Italy. On the low marshy 
und, encircled by the hills, was an open-air market, which they 
led the Forum, where the Latin peasants could meet the Etrus- 
i traders and exchange grain or oxen for the metal tools or 
ipons they needed. Such must have been the condition of the 
up of villages called Rome about 1000 B.C. 



194 



History of Europe 



297. Rome seized by Etruscans (about 750 B.C.). The Etrus- 
can invasion which the Latin tribes feared finally took place. 
Perhaps as early as 750 b.c. one of the Etruscan princes crossed 
the Tiber, drove out the last of the line of Latin chieftains, and 
took possession of the stronghold on the Palatine. From this 
place as his castle and palace he gained control of the villages on 
the hills above the Tiber, which then gradually merged into the 









U'?? 







Fig. 54. The Tiber and its Island at Rome 

The Tiber is not a large river, but when swollen by the spring freshets it 
still sometimes floods a large portion of Rome, doing serious damage. The 
houses which we see on the island are some of them old, but not as old as 
the ancient Rome we are to study. The bridges, however, are very old. 
The one on the right of the island was built of massive stone masonry in 
62 B.C. It has been standing for over two thousand years. Many great 
Romans, like Julius Caesar, whose names are familiar to us, must often have 

crossed .this bridsre 



city of Rome. These Etruscan kings soon extended their power 
over the Latin tribes of the plain of Latium. The town of Alba 
Longa, which once led the Latins, disappeared. Thus Rome be- 
came a city-kingdom under an Etruscan king, like the other 
Etruscan cities which stretched from Capua far north to the 
harbor of Genoa (see map, p. 192). Although Rome was then 
ruled by a line of Etruscan kings for probably two centuries and 
a half, it must be borne in mind that the population of Latium 
which the Etruscan kings governed continued to be Latin and to 
speak the Latin tongue. 



The Western Mediterranean World 



I9S 



298. Etruscans receive Greek Civilization. The Etruscans 
had been trafficking in the Greek harbors since Mycenaean days. 
In time they learned to write their own language with Greek 
letters. Many tombs containing their inscriptions still survive 
in Italy. Although we know the letters and can pronounce the 




Map of Early Rome showing the Successive Stages of 

ITS Growth 



Etruscan words, scholars are still unable to understand them. 
This intercourse with Greece also brought in many other products 
of Greek civilization, like the beautiful Greek vases (Fig. 35), 
until the Etruscans adopted much Greek civilization. They early 
produced such fine work in bronze (Fig. 53) that for a time it 
even excelled the metal work of the Greeks. 

299. Expulsion of the Etruscan Kings of Rome (about 
500 B.C.). The Etruscan kings introduced great improvements 



196 History of Europe 

into Rome, but their cruelty and tyranny finally caused a revolt of 
their Latin subjects, and thus the kings of Rome were driven out. 
Thus about 500 b. c. the career of Rome under monarchs came to 
an end ; but the two and a half centuries of Etruscan rule left 
their mark on Rome, always afterward discernible, especially in 
architecture. 

III. The Character of the Early Republic : its 
Progress and Government 

300. Greek Influence in Rome. During this Etruscan period 
Greek influences were equally important in Latium. At the dock 
below the Tiber ford, ships from the Greek cities of southern 
Italy were becoming more and more common. Long before the 
Etruscan kings were driven out the Roman traders had gradually 
learned to scribble memoranda of their own with the letters which 
they found in the bills they received from the Greek merchants. 
Greek letters thus became likewise the Roman alphabet, slightly 
changed to suit the Latin language. Thus the oriental alphabet 
(§ 140) was carried one step further in the long westward journey 
which finally made it (after some changes) the alphabet with 
which this book is printed. 

As Roman traffic grew, it was found very inconvenient to 
pay bills with grain and oxen while the Greek merchant at the 
dock paid his bills with copper and silver coins. At length, over 
a hundred and fifty years after the Etruscan kings had been 
driven out, the Romans began to issue copper coins (Fig. 55). 

But the Greeks also influenced other things besides Roman 
business. For the Roman peasant heard of strange gods of the 
Greeks, and he was told that they, were the counterparts or the 
originals of his own gods. He was told that Venus was the Greek 
Aphrodite, Mercury was Hermes, Ceres was Demeter, and so 
on. For the Roman there was a god over each realm in nature 
and each field of human life : Jupiter was the great Sky-god and 
king of all the gods ; Mars, the patron of all warriors ; Venus, the 
queen of love ; Juno, an ancient Sky-goddess, was protectress of 



The Western Mediterranean World 



197 



women, of birth and marriage, while Vesta too watched over the 
household life ; Ceres was the goddess who maintained the fruit- 
fulness of the earth, and especially the grainfields (compare Eng- 
lish "cereal") ; and Mercury was the messenger of the gods, who 
protected intercourse and wt'/rhandising, as his name shows. 

301. Mechanical Character of the Roman Mind. The rather 
coldly calculating Roman lacked the warm and vivid imagination 
of the Greeks which had created the beautiful Greek mythology. 








.1 j; 

Fig. 55. Specimens of Eaklv- Roimax Copper Moxev 

In the time of Alexander the Great (second half of the fourth cgntury B. c.) 
the Romans found it too inconvenient to continue paying their debts in 
goods, especially in cattle (§ 296). They therefore cast copper in blocks, 
each block with the figure of an ox upon it (see .-/, above), to indicate its 
value. The Roman word for cattle {pecus) was the origin of one of their frequent 
words for property (pecunia) and has descended to us in our common word 
" pecuniary." These blocks were unwieldy, and, influenced by the Greeks, 
the Romans then cast large disks of copper (/>, above), which were also very 
ponderous, each weighing nearly a pound Troy. This coin was called, an as. 
When two generations later (26S K. c.) the Romans began to coin silver 
(see Fig. 56), copper was no longer used for large payments and the as was 
reduced in size to one sixth its former weight 



The Romans were better fitted for great achievements in political 
and legal organization than for new and original developments 
in religion, art, literature, or discoveries in science. Let us now 
see how Roman common sense and political wisdom developed 
the Roman State. 

302. Establishment of the Roman Republic. When the Etrus- 
can kings were driven out of Rome, about 500 B.C., the nobles, 
called patricians, were in control of the government. The 



1 98 History of Europe 

patricians agreed that two of their number should be elected as 
heads of the State. These two magistrates, called consuls, were 
both to have the same powers, were to serve for a year only and 
then give way to two others. To choose them, annual elections 
were held in an assembly of the weapon-bearing men, largely 
under the control of the patricians. Nevertheless, we must call 
this new state a republic, of which the consuls were the presidents ; 
for the people had a voice in electing them. But as only pa- 
tricians could serve as consuls, their government was very oppres- 
sive. The people (called the plebs ; compare our "plebeian"), 
especially among the Latin tribes, refused to submit to such 
oppression. 

303. The Tribunes Defenders of the People. The patricians 
were unable to get on without the help of the people as soldiers 
in their frequent wars. They therefore agreed to give the people 
a larger share in the government, by allowing them in their own 
assembly to elect a group of new officials, called tribunes.^ The 
tribunes had the right to veto the action of any officer of the 
government — even that of the consuls themselves. When any 
citizen was treated unjustly by a consul he had only to appeal to 
one of the tribunes. 

304. Growing Body of Government Officials. It gradually 
became necessary to create new officers for various kinds of 
business. To take care of the government funds, treasury officials 
called qucestors were appointed. Officials called censors were re- 
quired to keep lists of the people, to look after their daily con- 
duct and see that nothing improper was permitted. Our own use 
of the word " censor " is derived from these Roman officials. For 
the decision of legal cases a judge called a proetor was appointed 
to assist the consul, and the number of such judges slowly in- 
creased. In times of great national danger it was customary to 
appoint some revered and trustworthy leader as the supreme 
ruler of the State. He was called the Dictator, and he could hold 
his power for but a brief period. 

305. The Senate and the Struggle of Plebs and Patricians. 
The consuls had great power and influence in all government mat- 
ters, but they were much influenced by a council of patricians 



The Western J^editerranean World 199 

called the Senate (from Latin senex, meaning "old man"). The 
patricians enjoyed the exclusive right to serve as consuls, to sit 
in the Senate, and to hold almost all of the offices created to carry- 
on the business of government (§304). 

The tribunes, as we have seen (§303), could protect the people 
from some injustices, but they could not secure to the plebeian 
citizen the right to be elected as consul, or to become a senator, 
or to marry a patrician's daughter. The struggle of the common 
people to win their rights from the wealthy and powerful therefore 
continued. It was a struggle like that which we have followed 
in Athens and the other Greek states ; but at Rome it reached a 
much wiser and more successful settlement. The citizens of Rome 
manfully stood forth for their rights, and without fighting, civil 
war, or bloodshed they secured them to a large extent in the 
course of the first two centuries after the founding of the Republic. 

306. Written Codes and New Laws. They insisted upon a 
record of the existing laws in writing, in order that they might 
know by what laws they were being judged. About fifty years 
after the establishment of the Republic the earliest Roman laws 
were reduced to writing and engraved upon twelve tablets of 
bronze (450 B.C.). But at the same time the people demanded 
the right to share in the making of new laws and to possess an 
assembly of the people, which might pass new laws. 

307. Laws and Lawmaking Power. Having shaken off the 
legal power of the Senate to control their action, the assemblies 
of the people became the lawmaking bodies of the Roman State. 
In this way the people gradually secured a fairer share of the 
public lands and further social rights. Finally, and most im- 
portant of all, these new laws increased the rights of the people 
to hold ofiice. In the end Roman citizens elected their plebeian 
neighbors as censors and quaestors, as judges and at last even as 
consuls, and they saw men of the people sitting in the Senate. 

308. New Nobility made up of Former Magistrates. Roman 
citizens had a deep respect for government and for its officials. 
There soon grew up a group of once plebeian families dis- 
tinguished by the public service of its members, to whom the 
Roman citizens looked up with great respect. When the voters 



2 00 History of Europe 

were called upon to select their candidates they preferred mem- 
bers of these eminent families, especially for the consulship. A 
new nobility was thus formed, made up of such illustrious fam- 
ilies and the old patricians. 

As a result of these changes this new nobility found its way 
into the Senate, which was thus made up of the three hundred 
men of Rome who had gained the most experience in government 
and in public affairs. Their combined influence was finally 
stronger than that of the consuls themselves, who were therefore 
obliged to carry on the government according to instructions from 
the Senate. 

309. The Roman Senate Supreme Leader of the State. By 
far the larger part of the Roman citizens lived too far away to 
come up to the city and vote. Feeling, too, their own ignorance 
of public affairs, the Roman citizens were not unwilling that im- 
portant public questions should be settled by the Senate. Thus 
the Roman Senate became a large committee of experienced states- 
men, guiding and controlling the Roman State. They formed the 
greatest council of rulers which ever grew up in the ancient world, 
or perhaps in any age. They were a body of aristocrats, and their 
control of Rome made it an aristocratic state, in spite of its re- 
publican form. We are now to watch the steady development and 
progress of Roman power under the wise and stable leadership of 
the Senate. 

IV. The Expansion of the Roman Republic and 
THE Conquest of Italy 

310. Early Struggles of the Republic. It was a tiny nation 
which began its uncertain career after the expulsion of the Etrus- 
can kings about 500 b. c. The territory of the Roman Republic 
thus far comprised only the city with the neighboring fields for 
a very few miles around. On the other side of the Tiber lived 
the dreaded Etruscans, and on the Roman side of the river, all 
around the little republic, lay the lands of the Latin tribes, only 
loosely united with Rome by treaty. 



The Western Mediterranean World 201 

For two generations the new republic struggled for the preser- 
vation of its mere existence. Fortunately for the Romans, within 
a generation after the foundation of the Republic the Greek fleet 
of Syracuse utterly destroyed the Etruscan fleet (474 B.C.) (see 
tailpiece, p. 204). Later the Etruscans were attacked in the rear 
by the Gauls, who were at this time pouring over the Alpine passes 
into the valley of the Po and laying waste the Etruscan cities 
of the North. This weakening of the Etruscans probably saved 
Rome from destruction. By 400 b. c, or a little after, the Romans 
had conquered and taken possession of a fringe of new territory 
on all sides, which protected them from their enemies. 

311. Roman Policy of Agricultural Expansion. In the new 
territory thus gained the Romans planted colonies of citizens, or 
they granted citizenship or other valuable privileges to the con- 
quered population. Roman peasants, under obligation to bear 
Roman arms and having a voice in the government, thus pushed 
out into the new and enlarging Roman territory. We may call 
this plan a policy of agricultural expansion. It gave to Rome an 
ever-increasing body of brave and hardy citizen-soldiers. The 
Roman policy was thus in striking contrast with the narrow 
methods of the Greek republics, which jealously prevented out- 
siders from gaining citizenship. It was the steady expansion of 
Rome under this plan which in a little over two centuries after 
the expulsion of the Etruscan kings made the little republic on 
the Tiber mistress of all Italy (see map, p. 192). 

312. Capture of Rome by the Gauls (382 B.C.). The second 
century of Roman expansion opened with a fearful catastrophe, 
which very nearly accomplished the complete destruction of the 
nation. In the first two decades after 400 B.C. the barbarian 
Gauls of the North (§310), who had been overrunning the ter- 
ritory of the Etruscans, finally reached the lower Tiber, defeated 
the Roman army, and entered the city. Unable, however, to 
capture the citadel on the Capitol Hill, the Gauls at length agreed 
to accept a ransom of gold and to return northward, where they 
settled in the valley of the Po. But they still remained a serious 
danger to the Romans. 



202 History of Europe 

313. Subjugation of the Latin Tribes (338 B.C.). As Rome 
recovered from this disaster it was evident that the city needed 
fortifications, and for the first time masonry walls (plan, p. 195) 
were built around it. Alarmed at its growing power, the Latin 
tribes now endeavored to break away from the control of the 
powerful walled city. In the two years' war which resulted 
the city was completely victorious (338 b.c). Rome thus gained 
the undisputed leadership of the Latin tribes, which was at last 
to bring her the leadership of Italy. 

The year 338 b.c, in which this important event took place, 
is a date to be well remembered, for it also witnessed the defeat 
of the Greek cities at the hands of Philip of Macedon (§256). 
In the same year, therefore, both the Greeks and the Latins saw 
themselves conquered and falling under the leadership of a single 
state — the Greeks under that of Macedonia, the Latins under 
that of Rome. In sixty-five years the Romans were now to gain 
the leadership of all Italy. 

314. Samnite Wars (325-290 B.C.) and the Battle of Sentinum 
(295 B.C.). Meantime another formidable foe, a group of Italic 
tribes called the Samnites, had been taking possession of the 
mountains inland from Rome. They had gained some civilization 
from the Greek cities of the South, and they were able to muster 
a large army of hardy peasants, very dangerous in battle. By 
325 B.C. a fierce war broke out between the Romans and the 
Samnites. It lasted with interruptions for a generation. The 
Romans lost several battles, and the Samnites succeeded in shift- 
ing their army northward and joining forces with Rome's enemies, 
the Etruscans and the Gauls. In the mountains midway between 
the upper Tiber and the eastern shores of Italy the Roman army 
met and crushed the combined forces of the allies in a terrible 
battle at Sentinum (295 b.c). This victory not only gave the 
Romans possession of central Italy but it made them the leading 
power in the whole peninsula. 

315. Rome Mistress of Central and Northern Italy. Hence- 
forth the Etruscans were unable to maintain themselves as a 
leading power. One by one their cities were taken by the Romans, 



The Western Mediterranean World 203 

or they entered into alliance with Rome, The intruding Gallic 
barbarians were beaten off, though the settled Gauls continued 
to hold the Po valley. The northern boundary of the Roman 
conquests was therefore along the Arnus River, south of the 
Apennines. The Romans were then supreme from the Arnus to 
the Greek cities of southern Italy (see map, p. 192). 

316. The War with Pyrrhus (280-275 B.C.) and Fall of the 
Greeks in Italy. The remaining three great rivals in the western 
Mediterranean world were now the Romans, th6 Greeks, and the 
Carthaginians. Four centuries of conflict among themselves had 
left the western Greek colonies (§ 153) still a disunited group of 
cities fringing southern Italy and Sicily. Alarmed at the threaten- 
ing expansion of Roman power they endeavored to unite and sent 
an appeal for help to Pyrrhus, the vigorous and able king of 
Epirus, just across from the heel of Italy. 

Leading a powerful army, Pyrrhus was a highly dangerous foe. 
His purpose was to form a great nation of the western Greeks 
in Sicily and Italy. He completely defeated the Romans in two 
battles, and he gained practically the whole island of Sicily. But 
the Carthaginians, seeing a dangerous rival rising only a few 
hours' sail from their home harbor, sent a fleet to assist the 
■Romans against Pyrrhus. With a Carthaginian fleet at the mouth 
of the Tibef the Roman Senate resolutely refused to make peace 
so long as the army of Pyrrhus occupied Italian soil. At the same 
time the Greeks disagreed among themselves, as they always did 
at critical times. Pyrrhus, thus poorly supported, found himself 
unable to inflict a decisive defeat on the Romans, and returned to 
Epirus. One by one the helpless Greek cities of Italy then sur- 
rendered to the Roman army, and they had no choice but to 
accept alliance with the Romans. Thus ended all hope of a great 
Greek nation in the West. 

317. Summary of Roman History down through the Con- 
quest of Italy. Having freed itself from a long period of Etruscan 
tyranny the little Roman republic emerged about 500 b.c. to 
compete with three dangerous rival peoples, the Etruscans, Cartha- 
ginians, and Greeks, the first two of whom had brought the 



204 History of Europe 

earliest civilization into the western Mediterranean. The Romans 
gradually developed their own government with remarkable skill, 
so that the nation was guided by a great council of their most 
experienced men, called the Senate. By a process of settling 
farmer colonists, that is, by agricultural expansion, the tiny re- 
public on the Tiber gained the mastery of the entire Italian 
peninsula south of the Po valley. This long period of conquest 
extended over about two centuries and a quarter (500-275 b.c). 
Thenceforward there were but two rivals in the western Medi- 
terranean world — Rome and Carthage. 

QUESTIONS 

I. Discuss the geography of the western Mediterranean world ; of 
Italy. Who were the Italic tribes ? Name the four rival peoples of 
the western Mediterranean world and tell something of each. 

II. Discuss early Latium. Describe its leading market town. What 
people furnished the first kings of Rome ? Tell of their rule. What 
civilization did the Etruscans receive ? Give examples. When were 
they expelled from Rome ? 

III. Tell about Greek influences among the Romans. Who took 
the place of the expelled Etruscan kings ? What did the government 
of Rome become ? How did the people gain power ? the Senate ? 

IV. Describe the Roman policy of expansion. Discuss the wars 
with the Gauls ; with the Latins ; with the Samnites ; witn the Greeks 
and Pyrrhus. What was the result ? What two rivals remained ? 

Note. This tailpiece shows an Etruscan helmet taken by the Syracusans in 474 b. c. 




3^?^3^v CORA/£L/VS-C/Vf SC/IMOZlfHi^ 







COSWtl-'V'. IVCtW SCiri0 8Ai;5ATVSCNAr\'OOrATRE, 
PROCWATVS rOfrT'lSVIR SAPICfv/> OVt- OVO/V^ fO«-v\A VlRTVTfirASISVW 
f VIT- CON^OL CENSORAlOILlSQVEirV(TAPVDVO<-T.4VRASIACISAVNA 
<AMMOCa''T SVBICITOMfVrLOVrAWA-OPSlDrSQVEAHOOVClT 



CHAPTER XIV 



THE ROMAN CONQUEST OF THE WESTERN 
MEDITERRANEAN WORLD 

I. Italy under the Early Roman Republic 

318. The Problem of making Italy a Nation. After the 
leadership of Italy had been gained by Rome, there were men 
still living who could remember the Latin war (ended 338 B.C.), 
when Rome had for a time lost even the surrounding fields of 
little Latium. Now, less than sixty-five years later, the city 
on the Tiber was mistress of all Italy. The new power over a 
large group of cities and states, thus gained within a single life- 
time, was exercised by the Roman Senate with the greatest skill 
and success. The problem was to make Italy a nation, controlled 
by Rome. But if Rome had annexed all the conquered lands 
and endeavored to rule them from Rome as mere subjects, the 
population of Italy would have been dissatisfied and constant 
revolts would have followed. 

The Romans accordingly granted the defeated cities a kind 
of citizenship, which entitled them to all the protection of the 
Roman State in the courts and in carrying on business, but did 
not entitle them to vote. In distant communities, however, no 
one felt the lack of this privilege, for in order to vote it was neces- 
sary to go to Rome. Cities and communities controlled by Rome 

Norn. The above headpiece represents the beautiful stone sarcophagus of one of the 
early Scipios, found in the family tomb on the Appian Way. It is adorned with details 
of Greek architecture, which clearly show that it was done by a Greek artist (§ 320). Verses 
in early Latin, on the side of the sarcophagus, contain praises of the departed Scipio. 

205 



206 



History of Europe 





in this way were called allies. Enjoying the protection of the 
powerful Roman State, the allies were willing to place their 
troops entirely at the disposal of Rome. 

Rome had also gradually annexed a good deal of territory 
to pay her war expenses and to supply her increasing numbers 
of citizens with land. Her own full citizens thus occupied about 
one sixth of the territory of Italy. Rome furthermore continued 
her policy of planting Roman colonies through the territory of the 
allies. All Italy was thus more or less dotted with such com- 
munities made up of 
citizens of the Roman 
Republic. 

319. Lack of Na- 
tional Unity in Italy. 
Roman methods of 
organization had in 
this way created a 
kind of United States 
of Italy, which might 
in the course of time 
become merged into 
a nation. Meanwhile 
many of these peoples 
had no feeling of pa- 
triotism toward Rome. Having no common traditions like those 
of the Trojan War among the Greeks (§ 143), and speaking many 
different languages, they long remained quite distinct from each 
other and from Rome. Italy was therefore far from being a nation. 
320, Italy Latin in Speech, but Greek in Civilization. In 
language the future nation was to be Latin, the tongue of the 
ruling city ; geographically it comprised Italy ; politically it was 
Roman. ^ When we consider Rome from the point of view of 
civilization, however, we arp obliged to add a fourth name. For 



Fig. 56. A Roman Denarius of Silver 

After the capture of the Greek cities of southern 
Italy, the Romans began the coinage of silver 
(268 B.C.) (see § 320). The large and inconvenient 
as (Fig. 55, B) was then displaced by silver for 
all large transactions. The value of this coin, called 
a denarius, was a little less than twenty cents, like 
the Athenian drachma (§ 163) 



1 Compare the similar application of three names to our own country. Our language 
is English. Geographically we are commonly called America; politically we are the 
United States. 



The Roman Conquest 207 

as time went on, Italy was to become in civilization more and 
more Greek. In the Greek cities of southern Italy the Romans 
for the first time saw beautiful temples (tailpiece, p. 107) and 
fine theaters (plate, p. 106) ; and they must have attended Greek 
plays also, of which they understood little or nothing. But the 
races and athletic games common in the Greek cities required no 
interpretation in order to be understood by the sturdy Roman 
soldiers who had fought Pyrrhus in the South. 

In southern Italy the Romans had taken possession of the 
western fringe of the great Hellenistic world, whose wonderful 
civilization we have already studied (pp. 179-187). The Romans 
at once felt the superiority of this new world of cultivated life, 
which they had entered in the Greek South. It was as yet chiefly 
in commerce and in business that Greek influences were evident. 
Greek silver money appeared in greater quantities after the cap- 
ture of the Greek cities, and not long after the war with Pyrrhus 
Rome issued her first silver coin (Fig. 56). Just as Athens had 
once done (§ 164), so Rome now began to feel the influence of 
money, and a moneyed class, largely merchants, arose. They 
were not manufacturers, as at Athens, and Rome never became 
a great industrial center, 

II. The Rising Rivalry between Rome and 

Carthage 

321. Roman Commercial Expansion Seaward. Roman ships 
issuing from the Tiber entered a triangular inclosure of the Mediter- 
ranean, called the Etruscan Sea. A glance at the map (p. 192) 
shows us how Rome and Carthage faced each other across this 
triangular sea, where both were now carrying on extensive 
business. 

322. Carthaginian Commercial Expansion in Africa. As the 
trade of Carthage increased she had gradually gained control over 
the north African coast from the frontiers of the Greek city of 
Cyrene westward to the Atlantic (§ 139). She had become the 
commercial mistress of the western Mediterranean world. Her 



2o8 History of Europe 

merchants seized southern Spain, with its profitable silver mines, 
and they gained control of the import of British tin by way of the 
Strait of Gibraltar. Outside of this strait their settlements ex- 
tended both northward and southward far along the Atlantic coast. 
It was only the incoming of the Greeks (§ 153) which had pre- 
vented the Carthaginians from taking possession of all the western 
Mediterranean islands upon which their splendid harbor looked 
out, especially the island of Sicily. They closed the ports of the 
islands and the Strait of Gibraltar to ships from all other cities. 
Ships of other nations intruding in these waters were promptly 
rammed and sunk by Carthaginian warships. 

323. Carthaginian Army and State Organization. Unlike 
Rome the military power of Carthage was built up entirely on 
a basis of money, with which §he supported a large mercenary 
army. She had no farmers cultivating their own land, from whom 
she could draw an army of citizen-soldiers as did Rome. This was 
a serious weakness. The rulers of the city never trusted the 
army, made up as it was of hired foreigners. Carthage was gov- 
erned by a group of merchant nobles, a wealthy aristocracy whose 
members formed a Council in complete control. They were ener- 
getic and statesmanlike rulers. Centuries of shrewd guidance on 
their part made Carthage a great state, far exceeding in power 
any of the Greek states that ever arose, not excluding Athens. 
The city of Carthage itself was luxurious and splendid, and in 
area it was three times as large as Rome. 

324. Early Relations between Carthage and Rome. In the 
fourth century b. c, before Rome had gained the leadership of Italy, 
when the Roman merchants were still doing a small business, the 
Senate had made a treaty with Carthage, in which it was agreed 
that no Carthaginian ships should trade in the ports of Roman 
Italy and no Roman ships should enter the harbors of Sicily. 
With increasing vexation the merchants of Italy realized that 
Rome had gained the supremacy of Italy and pushed her frontiers 
to the southernmost tip of the peninsula, only to look across and 
find that the merchant princes of Carthage held the markets of 
Sicily and had made the western Mediterranean a Carthaginian 



The Roman Conquest 



209 



sea. Indeed, should Carthage occupy 
IMessina, it might cut off Rome from 
communication with even her own 
ports on the Adriatic side of Italy. 
For to reach them Roman ships must 
pass through the Strait of Messina, 
between Italy and Sicily. 

325. War Strength of the Romans. 
The Roman Senate without doubt 
shared these apprehensions. But the 
Romans could put a citizen army of 
over three hundred thousand men into 
the field. Besides the troops made *up 
of Roman citizens the principle was 
adopted of having each army include 
also about an equal number of troops 
drawn from the allies (§318). This 
plan, therefore, doubled the number 
of available troops. The Roman army 
conseciuently far exceeded in size any 
army ever before organized in the 
Mediterranean world. 

In arms and tactics the Romans had 
been able to make some improvements 
on the Hellenistic art of war (§ 237). 
After hurling their spears into the 
ranks of the enemy, the Romans fought 
with their short swords, which were 
much more easily handled at close 
quarters than long spears (Fig. 57). 
At the same time the Romans had 
likewise improved the phalanx, which 
had thus far been a long massive line 
eight men deep, possessing no flexibil- 
ity. It was one solid mass and had 
no joints. The Romans gave it joints 















Fig. s7- A Roman Sol- 
dier OF THE Legion 

The figure of the soldier is 
carved upon a tombstone, 
erected in his memory by 
his brother. His offensive 
weapons are hisspear(/////w), 
whichhe holdsinhisextended 
right hand with point upward, 
and his heavy short sword 
{glad ills), which he wears 
girded high on his right side 
(see § 325). As defensive 
equipment he has a helmet, 
a leathern corselet stopping 
midway between the waist and 
knees, and a shield (sctitinn) 
made of wicker and heavy 
hide with metal trimming 



210 History of Europe 

and flexibility by cutting it up in both directions ; that is, length- 
wise and crosswise into small bodies of men, called maniples. As 
the Romans gradually learned to shift these smaller units more 
and more skillfully, the art of war entered upon a new chapter.^ 
For purposes of mustering and feeding an army the Romans 
divided it into larger bodies, called legions, each containing usually 
forty-five hundred men. 

III. The Struggle with Carthage : the Sicilian 
War, or First Punic War 

326. Opening of the Sicilian War (First Punic War) 
(264 B.C.). The Romans soon discovered that the struggle with 
Carthage could not be avoided. A local war in Sicily gave a 
Carthaginian garrison opportunity to occupy the citadel of Mes- 
sina, and the Carthaginians were then in command of the Strait of 
Messina (see map, p. 192, and § 324). The Romans now took a 
memorable step. A Roman army left the soil of Italy, crossed the 
sea for the first time in Roman history, and entered Sicily. The 
struggle with Carthage had begun (264 B.C.) (see map, I, p. 218). 

327. Naval Victory of the Romans (241 B.C.). An alliance 
with Syracuse soon gave the Romans possession of eastern Sicily, 
but they were long hampered for lack of a fleet. In the fifth year 
of the war, however, the new Roman warships, which the Senate 
had caused to be built, put^to sea for the first time. They 
numbered a hundred and twenty battleships. 

In spite of inexperience, the Roman fleet was at. first victorious. 
Then one newly built Roman fleet after another was destroyed by 
heavy storms at sea, and one of them was badly defeated by the 
Carthaginians. Year after year the struggle dragged on, while 
Hamilcar Barca, the Carthaginian commander, was plundering 
the coasts of Italy with his fleet. The treasury at Rome was 
empty, and the Romans were at the end of their resources ; but 
by private contributions they succeeded in building another fleet, 

1 For a fuller explanation of these remarkable improvements, see A?icieni Times, 
§§ 844-S48, and Fig. 237. 



The Roman Conquest 211 

which put to sea in 242 b.c. with two hundred battleships of 
five banks of oars. The Carthaginian fleet was defeated and 
broken up (241 B.C.), and as a result the Carthaginians found 
themselves unable to send reenforcements across the sea to their 
army in Sicily. 

328. Peace after the Sicilian War (241 B.C.). The Cartha- 
ginians were therefore at last obliged to accept hard terms of 
peace at the hands of the Romans. They were to give up Sicily 
and the neighboring islands to Rome and to pay the Romans as 
war damages the sum of thirty-two hundred talents, over three and 
a half million dollars, within ten years. Thus in 241 b.c, after 
more than twenty-three years of fighting, the first period of the 
struggle between Rome and Carthage ended with the victory of 
Rome. For the first time Rome held territory outside the Italian 
peninsula, and from this step she was never able to withdraw. 

IV. The Hannibalian War (Second Punic War) 
AND THE Destruction of . Carthage 

329. New Conquests of the Rivals. Both the rivals now de- 
voted themselves to increasing their strength. In spite of protests 
from Carthage, only three years after the settlement of peace 
Rome took possession of both Sardinia and Corsica. She now pos- 
sessed three island outposts against Carthage. At the same time 
the Romans conquered the Gauls and seized their territory in the 
Po valley. Thus Roman power was extended northward to the 
foot of the Alps, and the entire peninsula from the Alps south- 
ward was held by Rome (map, II, p. 218). 

To offset this increase of Roman power the Carthaginian 
leaders turned toward Spain. There Hamilcar's gifted son Han- 
nibal carried Carthaginian rule as far north as the Ebro River 
(map, II, p. 218), to which point Rome also extended her 
claims. Although only twenty-four years of age, Hannibal was 
already forming colossal plans for a bold surprise of Rome in 
her own territory, which by its unexpectedness and audacity 
should crush Roman power in Italy. 



212 History of Europe 

330. Opening of the Hannibalian War (218-202 B.C.). Han- 
nibal speedily found opportunity for a frontier quarrel with Rome 
in Spain (219 B.C.). With a. strong and well-drilled army of 
about forty thousand men he was soon marching northward along 
the east coast of Spain (map, Ancient Times, p. 538) with the 
purpose of crossing southern Gaul and invading Italy. Thus 
while the Roman Senate was planning to invade Spain and Africa 
Rome found its own land suddenly threatened from the north. 

It was late autumn when Hannibal reached the Alps (218 b. c). 
Overwhelmed by snowstorms ; struggling over a steep and dan- 
gerous trail, sometimes so narrow that the rocks had to be cut 
away to make room for his elephants ; looking down over dizzy 
precipices, or up to snow-covered heights where hostile natives 
rolled great stones down upon the troops, the discouraged army 
of Hannibal toiled on day after day, exhausted, cold, and hungry. 
At every point along the straggling line where help was most 
needed, the young Carthaginian was always present, encouraging 
and guiding his men. But when they issued from the Alpine pass 
and entered Italy in the upper valley of the Po, they had suf- 
fered such losses that they wiere reduced to some thirty-four 
thousand men. 

With this little army the dauntless Carthaginian youth had 
entered the territory of the strongest military power of the time — 
a nation which could now call to her defense over seven hundred 
thousand men, citizens and allies. Hannibal, however, was 
thoroughly acquainted with the most highly developed methods 
of warfare, and the exploits of Alexander a century earlier were 
familiar to him. On the other hand, the Roman consuls, com- 
manding the Roman armies, were simply magistrates like our 
mayors, often without much more knowledge of handling an 
army than has a city mayor in our time. They were no match 
for the crafty young Carthaginian. 

By skillful use of his cavalry, in which the Romans were 
weak, Hannibal easily won two engagements in the Po valley. 
The Gauls of the region at once began to flock to his standards, 
but they were raw, undisciplined troops. Having successfully 



The Roman Conquest 213 

crossed the Apennines, Hannibal surprised the army of the 
unsuspecting consul, Flaminius, on the march. On the shores 
of Lake Trasimene he ambushed the Roman legions both in front 
and rear and cut to pieces the entire Roman army. The consul 
himself fell. Being only a few days' march from Rome, Hannibal 
might now have advanced directly against the city ; but he had 
no siege machinery {Ancient Times, p. 140), and his forces were 
not numerous enough to besiege so strong a fortress. He there- 
fore desired a further victory in the hope that the allies of Rome 
would revolt and join him in attacking the city. 

331. A Year of Delay and Preparation (217-216 B.C.). At 
this dangerous crisis the Romans appointed a Dictator, a stable 
old citizen named Fabius, whose plan was to wear out Hannibal 
by refusing to give battle and by using every opportunity to 
harass the Carthaginians. This policy of caution and delay did 
not meet with popular favor at Rome. The people called Fabius 
the Laggard (Cunctator), a name which ever afterward clung to 
him. The new consuls elected for 216 b.c. therefore recruited an 
army of nearly seventy thousand men and pushed southward 
toward the heel of the Italian peninsula to fight Hannibal. The 
battle took place at Cannae (see map, p. 192). 

332. The Battle of Cannae (216 B.C.). Hannibal's stronger 
cavalry, forming his two wings, put to flight the horsemen forming 
the two Roman wings. Then these well-trained horsemen turned 
back to attack the heavy mass of the Roman center in the rear, and 
the Romans were caught between the Carthaginian center before 
them and the Carthaginian cavalry behind them. Only the sides 
of the trap were still open. Then two bodies of African reserves 
which Hannibal had kept waiting pushed quietly forward till they 
occupied positions on each side of the fifty-five thousand brave 
soldiers of the Roman center, who were thus inclosed on all sides.^ 
What ensued was simply a slaughter of the doomed Romans, 
lasting all the rest of the day. When night closed in, the Roman 
army was annihilated. Ex-consuls, senators, nobles, thousands of 
the best citizens of Rome, had fallen in this frightful battle. 

1 See plan, Ancient Times, p. 540, and §§ 864-865. 



2i4 History of Europe 

Every family in Rome was in mourning. Of the gold rings worn 
by Roman knights as an indication of their rank Hannibal is 
reported to have sent a bushel to Carthage. 

333. Hannibal's Statesmanship versus Roman Power. Thus 
this masterful young Carthaginian, the greatest of Semite gen- 
erals, within two years after his arrival in Italy and before he 
was thirty years of age, had defeated his giant. antagonist in four 
battles and destroyed three of the opposing armies. He might 
now count upon a revolt among the Roman allies. Within a few 
years southern Italy, including the Greek cities and even Syra- 
cuse in Sicily, forsook Rome and joined Hannibal. Only some of 
the southern Latin colonies held out against him. 

In all this Hannibal was displaying the judgment and insight 
of a statesman combined with amazing ability to meet the con- 
stant demands of the military situation. But opposing him were 
the dogged resolution, the ripe statesmanship, the unshaken or- 
ganization, and the seemingly inexhaustible numbers of the 
Romans. It was a battle of giants for the mastery of the world, 
for the victor in this struggle would without any question be 
the greatest power in the Mediterranean. In spite of Hannibal's 
victories, the steadiness and fine leadership of the Roman Senate 
held central Italy loyal to Rome. Although the Romans were 
finally compelled to place arms in the hands of slaves and mere 
boys, new armies were formed. With these forces the Romans 
proceeded to besiege and capture, one after another, the allied cities 
which had revolted against Rome. Even the clever devices of 
Archimedes (§280) during a desperate siege did not save Syracuse 
from being recaptured by the Romans (212 B.C.). 

334. Decline of Hannibal's Power. As a last hope Hannibal 
marched upon Rome itself and with his bodyguard rode up to 
one of the gates of the great city, whose power seemed so un- 
broken. For a brief time the two antagonists faced each other, 
and many a Roman senator must have looked over the walls at 
the figure of the tremendous young Carthaginian who had shaken 
all Italy as with an earthquake. But they were not to be fright- 
ened into offers of peace in this way, nor did they send out any 



The Roman Conquest 215 

message to him. His army was not large enough to lay siege to 
the greatest city of Italy. He had not been able to secure any 
siege machinery and he was therefore obliged to retreat without 
accomplishing anything. 

When he had finally been ten years in Italy, Hannibal realized 
that unless powerful reenforcements could reach him his cause 
was hopeless. His brother Hasdrubal in Spain had gathered an 
army and was now marching into Italy to aid him. But Hasdru- 
bal was met by a Roman army, completely defeated, and himself 
slain (207 B.C.). To the senators waiting in keenest anticipation 
at Rome, the news of the victory meant the salvation of Italy 
and the final defeat of an enemy who had all but accomplished 
the destruction of Roman power. 

335. Defeat of Hannibal by Scipio (202 B.C.). For a few 
years more Hannibal struggled on in the southern tip of Italy. 
Meantime the Romans, taught by the defeat of their consuls, 
had given the command of their forces in Spain to Scipio, one of 
the ablest of their younger leaders and a trained soldier. He 
drove the Carthaginians entirely out of Spain, thus cutting off 
their chief supply both of money and of troops. In Scipio the 
Romans had at last found a general with the masterful qualities 
which make a great military leader. He demanded of the Senate 
that he be sent to Africa to invade the dominions of Carthage as 
Hannibal had invaded those of Rome. 

By 203 B.C. Scipio had twice defeated the Carthaginian forces 
in Africa, and Carthage was forced to call Hannibal home. He 
had spent fifteen years on the soil of Italy, and the great struggle 
between the almost exhausted rivals was now to be decided in 
Africa. At Zama, inland from Carthage, the final battle of the 
war took place. The great Carthaginian was at last met by an 
equally great Roman, and Scipio won the battle. 

336. Treaty ending the Hannibalian War (201 B.C.) ; the 
Fate of Hannibal. The victory over Carthage made Rome the 
leading power in the whole ancient world. In the treaty which fol- 
lowed the Battle of Zama the Romans forced Carthage to pay ten 
thousand talents (over $11,000,000) in fifty years and to surrender 



2i6 History oj Europe 

all her warships but ten triremes. But, what was worse, she lost 
her independence as a nation, and according to the treaty she 
could not make war anywhere without the consent of the Romans. 
Hannibal escaped after his lost battle at Zama. He was one of 
the greatest and most gifted leaders in all history — a lion-hearted 
man, so strong of purpose that only a great nation like Rome 
could have crushed him. Rome still feared Hannibal and com- 
pelled the Carthaginians to expel him, and as a man of fifty he 
went into exile in the East, where we shall find him stirring up 
the successors of Alexander to combine against Rome (§ 340). 

337. Destruction of Carthage (i46 B.C.) : Third Punic War. 
Cato, a famous old-fashioned senator, was so convinced that 
Carthage was still a danger to Rome that he concluded all his 
speeches in the Senate with the words, " Carthage must be de- 
stroyed." For over fifty years more the merchants of Carthage 
were permitted to traffic in the western Mediterranean, and then 
the iron hand of Rome was laid upon the doomed city for the last 
time. To defend herself against the Numidians behind her, 
Carthage was finally obliged to begin war against them. This 
step, which the Romans had long been desiring, was a violation 
of the treaty with Rome. The Senate seized the opportunity at 
once and Carthage was called to account. In the three years' 
war (Third Punic War) which followed, the beautiful city was 
captured and completely destroyed (146 B.C.). Its territory was 
taken by Rome and called the Province of Africa. A struggle of 
nearly one hundred and twenty years had resulted in the anni- 
hilation of Rome's only remaining rival in the western Mediter- 
ranean world. 

338. Summary of the Roman Conquest of the Western 
Mediterranean. While the Romans crowned their conquest of 
Italy by the skillful organization of their new Italian subjects, 
they received more and more of Greek civilization, including 
silver coinage. Only eleven years after they had conquered the 
Greek cities on their south they were involved in their first war 
with their remaining rival, Carthage (264 B.C.). Under the able 
leadership of the Senate, and in spite of the genius of Hannibal, 



The Roman Conquest 217 

the Romans were victorious in three great wars with Carthage 
(264-146 B.C.), and they destroyed the city in 146 b.c. 

Thus the fourfold rivalry in the western Mediterranean, which 
had long included the Etruscans and Carthaginians, the Greeks 
and the Romans, had ended with the triumph of the once insig- 
nificant village on the Tiber. Racially, the western wing of the 
Indo-European line on the north side of the Mediterranean had 
proved victorious over that of the Semitic line on the south side 
(Fig. 27). The western Mediterranean world was now under the 
leadership of a single great nation, the Romans, as the eastern 
Mediterranean world had once been under the leadership of the 
Macedonians, We must now turn back and follow the dealings 
of Rome with the Hellenistic-oriental world of the eastern Medi- 
terr*anean, which v/e left (pp. 179-187) after it had attained the 
most highly refined civilization ever achieved by ancient man 
(see map, II, p. 218). 

QUESTIONS 

I. What two kinds of communities did Rome organize in Italy ? 
Was Italy therefore a nation ? Why ? What was Rome as to civili- 
zation ? How did this happen ? 

II. Give the boundaries of the Etruscan Sea. What rival did Rome 
find there ? Describe the power of Carthage. What early treaty did 
Rome make with Carthage ? What important strait was threatened 
by Carthage ? Disruss Roman power and ability in war. 

III. What started the first war with Carthage ? How were the 
Romans at first hampered ? What was the result of the naval war ? 
What terms did Rome force on Carthage ? 

IV. What islands did Rome next seize ? What did the Carthaginians 
then do ? What was the plan of Hannibal ? Give an account of his 
great march and early victories. What was the policy of Fabius ? 
Describe the Battle of Cannae. Why did not Hannibal take Rome ? 
What happened to Hannibal's reenforcements ? What did the Roman 
leaders then do ? What new leader did they appoint ? What did he 
demand ? What was the result ? 

What terms were forced on defeated Carthage ? What became of 
Hannibal ? What continued to be Roman feeling against Carthage ? 
What resulted ? How did Rome finally treat Carthage ? Who was 
then leader of the western Mediterranean world ? 



CHAPTER XV 

WORLD DOMINION AND DEGENERACY 

I. The Roman Conquest of the Eastern 
Mediterranean World 

339. Alexander's Successors all become Vassals of Rome 
(200-I68 B.C.). While the heirs of Alexander were carrying on 
their ceaseless wars and alliances in the eastern Mediterranean, 
down to about 200 b.c. (pp. 177-179), the vast power of Rome 
had been slowly rising in the West. Hannibal had persuaded 
Macedonia into an alliance with him against Rome. This hostile 
step could not be overlooked by the Romans, and hence a year 
after the close of the Hannibalian War a later Philip of Macedon 
found himself face to face with a Roman army. On the field 
of Cynoscephalae ("dog's heads"), in 197 b.c, the Macedonian 
army was disastrously routed, and the ancient realm of Alexander 
the Great became a vassal state under Rome. As allies of Rome 
(§318), the Greek states were then granted their freedom by 
the Romans. 

This war with Macedon brought the Romans into conflict with 
Antiochus the Great, the Seleucid king, who held a large part 
of the vast empire of Persia in Asia. A war Avith this powerful 
Asiatic empire was not a matter which the Romans could view 
without great anxiety. Moreover, Hannibal, a fugitive from 
Carthage (§336), was with Antiochus, advising him. Neverthe- 
less at Magnesia in Asia Minor the West led by Rome overthrew 
the East led by Antiochus (190 B.C.), and the lands of Asia 
Minor eastward to the Halys River submitted to Roman control. 
The treaty closed Asia Minor west of this river to Antiochus. 

Within twelve years (200 to 189 B.C.) Roman arms had re- 
duced to the condition of vassal states two of the three great 

218 



World Dominion and Degeneracy 219 

empires which succeeded Alexander in the East — Macedonia and 
Syria (see map, III, p. 218). As for Egypt, the third, a little 
over thirty years after a Roman army had first appeared in the 
Hellenistic world, Egypt also acknowledged herself a vassal of 
Rome (168 B.C.). 

340. Subjection of the Greeks. Although defeated, the east- 
ern Mediterranean world, including the Greeks, long continued 
to give the Romans trouble. Then the Romans began harsh 
measures. The same year which saw the destruction of Carthage 
witnessed also the burning of Corinth by the Romans (146 b.c). 
Greek liberty was ended, and while a city of such revered mem- 
ories as Athens might be given greater freedom, those Greek states 
whose careers of glorious achievement in civilization we have 
followed were all reduced to the condition of Roman vassals. 

341. Rome's Great Task of Imperial Organization. The 
Roman Senate had shown fine ability in conducting the great 
wars. But now Rome was faced by the problem of furnishing 
successful government for the vast dominions which she had con- 
quered in three generations. In extent they would have reached 
entirely across the United States. To organize such an empire 
was a task like that which had been so successfully accomplished 
by Darius, the organizer of the Persian Empire (§ 100). 

II. Roman Government and Civilization in the 

Age of Conquest 

342. Misgovernment of Roman Provinces. The Romans had 
at first no experience in governing their conquered lands. Most 
of the newly acquired countries were organized by them as prov- 
inces — each province under a Roman governor, who possessed 
unlimited power like that of an oriental king. He had com- 
plete control of all the taxes of the province, and could demand 
what he needed from its people to support his Roman troops and 
the expenses of his government. The governor was very often in- 
experienced in provincial government, but was eager to gain -a 
fortune in his short term of office, usually a single year, and his 



220 History of Europe 

rule thus often became a mere system of looting and robbery. 
The Senate soon found it necessary to have laws passed for the 
punishment of such abuses, but these laws were of little use in 
improving the condition of the provincials. 

The evil effects of this situation were soon apparent. The 
provinces were filled with Roman business men whom we would 
call " loan-sharks." There were contractors called publicans, who 
were allowed to collect the taxes for the State at a great profit. 
We remember the common references to these publicans in the 
New Testament, where they are regularly classified with " sinners." 
These men of money plundered the provinces worse than the 
greedy Roman governors themselves. 

343. Rise of a Wealthy Class at Rome. As these people 
returned to Italy, there grew up a wealthy class such as had 
been unknown there before. Their ability to buy resulted 
in a vast import trade to supply their demands. From the Bay 
of Naples to the mouth of the Tiber the sea was white with the 
sails of Roman ships converging on the docks of Rome. The 
men who controlled all this traffic became wealthy merchants. 
To handle all the money in circulation, banks were required. 
During the Hannibalian War the first banks appeared at Rome, 
occupying a line of booths on each side of the Forum. Under 
these influences Rome greatly changed. 

When a returned governor of Africa put up a showy new 
house, the citizen across the way who still lived in his father's 
old house began to be dissatisfied with it. It was built of sun- 
dried brick, and, like the old settler's cabin of early America, it 
had but one room, called the atrium (Fig. 58). The Roman citi- 
zen of the new age had long before become familiar with the com- 
fort, luxury, and beauty with which the Greek houses of southern 
Italy were filled (§§ 275, 279). He therefore soon added a colon- 
naded Hellenistic court (Figs. 59, 60), with adjoining dining 
room, bedrooms, library, rest rooms, and kitchen. 

344. The New Luxury at Rome. Not long before the Cartha- 
ginian wars an ex-consul had been fined for having more than 
ten pounds' weight of silverware in his house. A generation later 



World Dominion and Degeneracy 



221 



L 



a wealthy Roman was using in his household silverware which 
weighed some ten thousand pounds. One of the Roman con- 
querors of Macedonia entered Rome with two hundred and fifty 
wagonloads of Greek statues and paintings. Even in so small 
a city as Pompeii, a citizen of wealth paved a handsome dining 
alcove with a magnificent 
mosaic picture of Alex- 
ander in battle, which 
had once formed a floor 
in a splendid Hellenistic 
residence in Alexandria 
(§275). The atrium thus 
became a large and stately 
reception hall where the 
master of the house could 
display his wealth in 
statues, paintings, and 
other works of art — the 
splendid trophies of war 
brought from the East. 

Pipes for running water, 
baths, and sanitary con- 
veniences were likewise 
quickly introduced. Some 
houses even had tile pipes 
conducting hot air for 
warmth, the earliest sys- 
tem of hot-air heating yet 
found. The kitchen was 
furnished with bronze 
utensils far better than those commonly found in our own homes. 
Such luxury required a great body of household servants. 
There was a doorkeeper at the front door (he was called ''jani- 
tor" from the Latin word janua, meaning "door"), and from the 
front door inward there was a servant for every small duty in 
the house. x\lmost all these menials were slaves. 




Fig. 



58. A Roman Atrium-House 
THE Old Days 



OF 



There was no attempt at beautiful archi- 
tecture, and the bare front showed no adorn- 
ment whatever. The opening in the roof, 
which Hghted the atrium (§ 343), received 
the rainfall of a section of the roof sloping 
toward it, and this water collected in a pool 
built to receive it in the floor of the atrium 
below (Fig. 59, B). The tiny area, or garden, 
shown in the rear was not common. It was 
here that the later Romans added the Hel- 
lenistic peristyle (Figs. 51, 59, and 60) 



222 



History of Europe 



345. Influence of Greek Art and Literature in Rome. While 
the effect of all this luxury introduced from the East was on the 
whole very bad, nevertheless the former plain, matter-of-fact life of 
the Roman citizen was stimulated and refined by the most beauti- 
ful works of Greek art. Hellenistic buildings were beginning to 

appear in Rome, and it 



F 
I 



u_r 



in 





Ittt-t- 



Fig. 59. Plan of a Roman 
WITH Peristyle 



House 



The earliest Roman house had consisted of a 
single room, the atrium (A), with the pool for the 
rain water {B). Then a small alcove, or lean-to, 
was erected at the rear {C) as a room for the 
master of the house. Later the bedrooms on 
each side of the atrium were added. Finally, 
under the influence of Greek life (§ 343), the 
garden court (Z'and Fig. 60), with its surround- 
ing colonnaded porch (peristyle; cf. Fig. 51) and 
a fountain in the middle (£), was built at the 
rear. Then a dining room, sitting room, and 
bedrooms were added, which opened on this 
court, and, being without windows, they were 
lighted from the court through the doors. In 
town houses it was quite easy to partition off 
a shop, or even a whole row of shops, along 
the front or side of the house, as in the Hel- 
lenistic house (Fig. 51). The houses of Pom- 
peii (Fig. 60) were almost all built in this way 



was not long, too, be- 
fore a Greek theater 
• was erected, improved 
by the Romans with 
awnings, a stage cur- 
tain, and seats in the 
orchestra circle where 
once the Greek chorus 
had sung (plate, p. 102). 
At the close of the 
Sicilian War (241 b.c.) 
a Greek slave from 
southern Italy named 
Andronicus was given 
his freedom by his 
master at Rome. Seeing 
the growing interest of 
the Romans in Greek 
literature, he translated 
the Odyssey (§ 143) 
into Latin as a school- 
book for Roman chil- 
dren. For their elders 
he likewise rendered 



into Latin the classic 
tragedies which we have seen in Athens (§ 217) and also a num- 
ber of Attic comedies (§220). Through his work the materials 
and the forms of Greek literature began to enter Roman life. 
The Romans had been accustomed to do very little in the way 
of educating their children. There were no schools at first, but 



World Dominion and Degeneracy 



223 




Fig. 60. Peristyle of a Pompeian House (below) and its 
Egyptian Ancestor (above; see Fig. it) 

We must imagine ourselves standing with our backs toward the atrium (hav- 
ing immediately behind us the room C in Fig. 59). We look out into the 
court, the garden of the house (Fig. 59, Z?). The marble tables and statues 
and the marble fountain basin in the middle (Fig. 59, E), just as we see them 
here in the drawing, were all found by the excavators in their places, as they 
were covered by volcanic ashes over eighteen hundred years ago (Fig. 68). 
Here centered the family life, and here the children played about the court, 
brightened with flowers and the tinkling music of the fountains 



the good old Roman custom had been for the father to instruct 
his own children. Gradually parents began to send their children 
to the schools which the freed Greek slaves of Rome were be- 
ginning to open there. Here and there a household possessed an 
educated Greek slave, like Andronicus, who became the tutor of 



2 24 History of Europe 

the children, teaching his pupils to read from the new primer of 
Andronicus, as we may call his Latin translation of Homer. 

346. Rise of Latin Literature and Literary Culture. Poets 
and writers of history now arose in Italy under the influence of 
Greek literature. Educated Romans could read of the great deeds 
of their ancestors in long epic poems modeled on those of Homer. 
In such literature were gradually recorded the picturesque legends 
of early Rome, like the story of Romulus and Remus and similar 
tales (p. 189, Note). Imitating the Greek comedies (§ 220), 
new Latin play-writers also produced very clever comedies carica- 
turing the society of Rome, to which the Romans listened with 
uproarious delight. 

As the new Latin literature grew, papyrus rolls bearing Latin 
works were more and more common in Rome. One of the 
Roman conquerors of Macedon brought back the books of the 
Macedonian king and founded the first private library in 
Rome. Wealthy Romans of education were now providing 
library rooms in their houses (§ 343), and they spoke Greek 
almost as well as Latin. 

III. Degeneration in City and Country 

347. Corrupting Influences of the New Luxury. The new 
life of Greek culture and luxury brought with it many evils. Cato, 
one of the hardiest of the old-fashioned Romans, and other Romans 
like him, succeeded in passing law after law against expensive 
habits of many kinds, such as the growing love of showy jewelry 
among the women or their use of carriages where they formerly 
went on foot. But such laws could not prevent the slow demorali- 
zation of the people. 

This was especially evident in the lives of the uneducated and 
poorer classes. Early in the wars with Carthage there had been 
introduced an old Etruscan custom of single combats between 
condemned criminals or slaves, who fought to honor the funeral of 
some great Roman. These fighters came to be called "swordsmen" 
{gladiators, from a Latin word gladius, meaning ''sword") (see 



World Dominion and Degeneracy 225 

tailpiece, p. 229). Officials in charge of the various public feasts, 
without waiting for a funeral, used to arrange a long program of 
such combats, sure of pleasing the people, gaining their votes, and 
thus securing election to higher offices. These barbarous and 
bloody spectacles took place in a great stone structure called an 
amphitheater, because it was formed by placing two (amphi) 
theaters face to face (Fig. 71). Soon afterward combats between 
gladiators and wild beasts were introduced (see tailpiece, p. 229). 
The Romans also began to build enormous courses for chariot 
races, surrounded by seats for vast numbers of spectators. Such a 
building was called a circus. 

348. Expenses of a Political Career. The common people of 
Rome were thus gradually debased. At the same time, as their 
poverty increased, the State arranged regular distributions of 
grain to the populace. A far greater evil was the bribery which 
the candidates for office now secretly practiced. Laws passed to 
prevent the practice were of slight effect. Henceforth we have 
only too often the spectacle of a Roman candidate trying to gain 
office in the government that ruled the world by bribing the little 
body of citizens who attended the Roman assemblies. 

All these practices enormously increased the expenses of a 
political career. If elected the Roman politician received no 
salary, and in carrying on the business of his office he was obliged 
to meet heavy expenses, for he had to supply a staff of clerks for 
government business at his own expense. As a result the Roman 
politician now sought office chiefly in order that through it he 
might gain enough influence to finally obtain the governorship 
of a rich province. There he then would more than regain his 
expenses. When a retired provincial governor returned to Rome 
he was no longer the simple Roman of the good old days. He 
lived like a prince and surrounded himself with royal luxury. 

349. Growth of Great Estates ; Decline of Small Farms. 
The evils of the new wealth were not less evident outside of 
Rome. It was not thought proper for a Roman senator or noble 
to undertake commercial enterprises or to engage in any business. 
The most respectable form of wealth was lands. Hence the 



2 2 6 History of Europe 

successful Roman noble or capitalist bought farm after farm, which 
he combined into a great estate or plantation. Only here and 
there were still to be found groups of little homestead farms of 
the good old Roman days. Large portions of Italy were in this 
condition. The small farm seemed in a fair way to disappear. 

350. Slave Revolts and Disorders. It was impossible for a 
wealthy landowner to work these great estates with free, hired 
labor. Nor was he obliged to do so. From the close of the Hanni- 
balian War onward the Roman conquests had brought to Italy 
great numbers of captives of war. These unhappy prisoners were 
sold as slaves. The estates of Italy were now filled with them. 
The life of such slaves on the great plantations which they worked 
was little better than that of beasts. When the supply of cap- 
tives from the wars failed, slave pirates for many years carried on 
wholesale kidnaping in the ^gean and eastern Mediterranean. 

Thus Italy and Sicily were fairly flooded with slaves. The 
brutal treatment which they received was so unbearable that at 
various places in Italy they finally rose against their masters. 
In central and southern Sicily the revolting slaves gathered some 
sixty thousand in number, slew their masters, captured towns, 
and set up a kingdom. It required a Roman consul at the head 
of an army and a war lasting several years to subdue them. 

351. Destruction of Farm Life in Italy by War. Slave labor 
and the great wars were meantime further ruining the small farm- 
ers of Italy. Never has there been an age in which the terrible and 
desolating results of war have so tragically revealed the awful cost 
of military glory. Fathers and elder sons had been absent from 
home for years holding their posts in the legions, fighting the 
battles which had brought Rome her great position as mistress of 
the world. Home life and wholesome country influences were 
undermined and broken up. The mothers, left to bring up the 
younger children alone, saw the family scattered and drifting 
away from the little farm, till it was left forsaken. 

352. Decline of Agriculture in Italy. Too often as the return- 
ing soldier approached the spot where he was born he no longer 
found the house that had sheltered his childhood. His family 



World Dominion and Degeneracy 227 

was gone, and his little farm, sold for debt, had been bought 
up by some wealthy Roman of the city and absorbed into a great 
plantation (§ 349). He cursed the wealth which had done all this 
and wandered up to the great city to look for free grain from the 
government, to enjoy the games and circuses, and to increase the 
poor class already there. 

Or if he found his home and his little farm uninjured, he was 
soon aware that the hordes of slaves now cultivating the great 
plantations around him were producing grain more cheaply than 
he. When he had sold his harvest he had not received enough 
for it to enable him and his family to live. Forced to sell the 
little farm at last, he too wandered into Rome, where he found 
thousands upon thousands of his kind homeless, embittered, and 
dependent upon the State for food. These once sturdy farmer- 
citizens who were disappearing had made up the bulk of the 
citizenship of Rome, from whose ranks she had drawn her 
splendid armies. 

353. Decline of Hellenistic Civilization. Nor was the situa- 
tion any better in the most civilized portions of the Empire out- 
side of Italy, and especially in Greece. Under the large plantation 
system the Greek farmers had disappeared, as those of Italy were 
now beginning to do. To this condition we must add, first, the 
robberies and extortions of the Roman taxgatherers and governors 
(§ 342) ; second, the continuous slave raids of the .^gean pirates, 
whose pillaging and kidnaping the Roman Republic criminally 
failed to prevent (§350) ; and third, the shift of Greek commerce 
eastward (§ 274). These were reasons enough for the destruction 
of business, of agriculture, and of prosperity in the Greek world. 
At the same time, that wondrous development of higher civiliza- 
tion which we found in the Hellenistic world (pp. 179-187) was 
likewise showing signs of decline. 

354. Failure of Roman Government of the Mediterranean 
World. The failure of the Roman Senate to organize a successful 
government for the empire they had conquered, — a government 
even as good as that of Persia under Darius (§ 100), — this fail- 
ure had brought the whole world of Mediterranean civilization. 



228 History of Europe 

dangerously near destruction. In the European background be- 
yond the Alpine frontiers there were rumblings of vast movements 
among the Northern barbarians, threatening to descend as of old 
and completely overwhelm the civilization which for over three 
thousand years had been slowly built up by Orientals and Greeks 
and Romans in the Mediterranean world. It now looked very 
much as if the Roman State was about to perish, and with it 
the civilization which had been growing for so many centuries. 
Was civilized man indeed to perish from the earth ? or would the 
Roman State be able to survive and to preserve civilization from 
destruction ? Rome was a city-state. Among the Greeks this 
very form of state had outlived its usefulness and had over and 
over again proved its inability to organize and control successfully 
a larger world ; that is, an empire. Would the Roman Republic 
be able to transform itself into a great imperial State, with all 
the many offices necessary to give successful government to the 
peoples and nations surrounding the Mediterranean ? 

355. The Difficulties confronting Rome after she had gained 
World Power. We stand at the point where the civilization of 
the Hellenistic world began to decline, after the destruction of 
Carthage and Corinth (146 B.C.). We are now to watch the 
Roman people struggling with three difficult and dangerous prob- 
lems at the same time : first, the deadly internal hostility which 
we have seen growing up between rich and poor ; second, the or- 
ganization of successful Roman government of the Mediterranean 
world while the dangerous internal struggle was going on ; and 
third, in the midst of these grave responsibilities, the invasions 
of the barbarian hordes of the North. In spite of all these 
threatening dangers we shall see Rome gaining the needed im- 
perial organization which enabled the Roman State" to hurl back 
the Northern barbarians, to hold the northern frontiers for five 
hundred years, and thus to shield and preserve the civilization 
which had cost mankind so many centuries of slow progress — 
the civilization which, because it was so preserved by the Roman 
Empire, has become our own inheritance to-day. 



World Dominion and Degeneracy 



229 



QUESTIONS 

I. After the Hannibalian War what happened between Rome and 
Macedonia ? between Rome and the Seleucid empire ? What became * 
of Egypt and the Greek states ? 

II. How did Rome organize the conquered lands ? What kind of 
rule did she give them ? Contrast the old and the new Roman 
houses. Discuss the new furnishings and conveniences ; the incoming 
works of Greek art ; of Greek literature. What was the result as to 
education ? as to Latin literature ? Discuss libraries at Rome. 

III. Describe the effect of the new luxury on the Romans. What 
forms of public entertainment arose ? Discuss treatment of the poor 
and expenses of a political career. What was the Roman politician's 
chief object ? How did the new wealth affect landownership ? Discuss 
slavery. What happened to the small farmers in Italy ? in Greece ? 
What great dangers now threatened Rome ? 

Note. The relief below, found in the Theater of Marcellus, built by Augustus, gives 
us a very vivacious glimpse of a battle between gladiators and wild beasts, just as the 
Romans saw it. The gladiators in this combat wear only a tunic and have no defensive 
armor except a helmet and a shield. Note the expression of pain on the face of the 
gladiator at the left, whose arm is being lacerated by the lion. 




CHAPTER XVI 

A CENTURY OF REVOLUTION AND THE END OF 
THE REPUBLIC 

I. The Land Situation and the Beginning of the 
Struggle between Senate and People 

356. The Dangerous Situation to be met by the Senate. 
We must now take up the difficult problems demanding settlement 
by the Roman Senate. In Italy there was above all the perilous 
condition of the surviving small farmers (§§349-352) and the 
need of increasing in some way their numbers and their farms. 
Equally dangerous was the discontent of the Italian allies, who 
had never been given the vote or the right to hold office (§ 318). 
The problems outside of Italy were not less pressing. They were, 
likewise, two in number. There was first the need of a complete 
reform of provincial government and the creation of a system of 
honest and successful management of the great Roman Empire. 
And second there was the settlement of the frontier boundaries of 
the Empire and the repulse of the invading barbarians who were 
threatening to crush the Mediterranean world and its civilization, 
as the prehistoric Greeks had crushed .^gean civilization (§ 134). 

357. Reforms of the Gracchi (133-121 B.C.). The crying 
needs of the farming class in Italy failed to produce any effect 
upon the blinded and selfish aristocrats of the Senate as a whole. 
The unselfish patriot who undertook to become the leader of the 
people against the Senate and to save Italy from destruction by 
restoring the farmer class was a noble named Tiberius Gracchus. 
He was a grandson of Scipio, the hero of Zama. Elected tribune 
(133 B.C.), he used to address the people with passionate elo- 
quence and tell them of their wrongs : " The beasts that prowl 
about Italy have holes and lurking places, where they may make 

230 



A Century of Revolution 231 

their beds. You who fight and die for Italy enjoy only the bless- 
ings of air and light. These alone are your heritage. Homeless, 
unsettled, you wander to and fro with your wives and children, 
. . . You fight and die to give wealth and luxury to others. You 
are called the masters of the world ; yet there is no clod of earth 
that you can call your own," 

As tribune, Tiberius Gracchus brought before the Assembly 
a law for the reassignment of public lands and the protection and 
support of the farming class. It was a statesmanlike and mod- 
erate law. In the effort to secure reelection, that he might insure 
the enforcement of his law, Gracchus was slain by a mob of sen- 
ators, who rushed out of the Senate house and attacked him and 
his supporters. This was the first murderous deed introducing 
a century of revolution and civil war (133-31 b.c), which ter- 
minated in the destruction of the Roman Republic. 

Ten years after the tribunate of Tiberius Gracchus his younger 
brother Gains gained the same office (123 b.c). He not only 
took up the struggle on behalf of the landless farmers but he 
made it his definite object to attack and weaken the Senate and 
thus reform the whole state. At the same time he proposed to give 
to the Italian allies the long-desired full citizenship — a proposal 
which angered the people as much as it did the Senate. His efforts 
finally resulted in a riot in which he was killed, as his brother 
had been (121 b.c). 

II, The Rise of One-Man Power : Marius and Sulla 

358. The People resort to Army Leaders. The work of the 
Gracchus brothers had at least taught the people to look up to 
a leader. This tendency was the beginning of one-man power. 
But the leader to whom the people now turned was not a civil 
magistrate, as the Gracchus brothers had been, but a military 
commander. The misrule of the Senate abroad so angered the 
people that the Assembly passed a law appointing their own gen- 
eral to supersede a general appointed by the Senate in a foreign 
war. The people by this action seized control of the army. 



232 History of Europe 

359. Services of Marius, the People's Commander. The 
commander on whom the people relied was himself a man of the 
people, named Marius, who had once been a rough plowboy. He 
was fortunately an able soldier and Rome needed his abilities. 
Two powerful tribes of German barbarians, the Cimbrians and the 
Teutons, combined with some Gauls, had been shifting southward 
and crossing the northern frontiers of Rome. Six Roman armies, 
one after another, had been disastrously defeated. There was 
great anxiety in Rome ; the people repeatedly reelected Marius 
consul and sent him against the terrible Northern barbarians. In 

. two great battles in the North the people's hero not only defeated 
but almost destroyed the German hosts (102 B.C.). A soldier of 
the people had saved Rome. 

Marius was not only an able soldier but he was also a great 
organizer. In order to secure sufficient men for the legions, he 
abolished the old custom of allowing only citizens of property to 
serve in the army, and he took in the poor and the penniless. Such 
men soon became professional soldiers. As once in Greece 
(§237), so now in Rome, the day of the citizen-soldier had 
passed. 

But in spite of his ability as a soldier and as an army organ- 
izer, Marius was not a statesman. Having risen from the ranks, 
he was at heart a rough Roman peasant. As a political leader 
he failed completely, and the Senate gained the upper hand again. 
Then Marius retired in disgrace, but his leadership had .revealed 
to the people how they might gain control over the Senate by 
combining on a military leader, whose power, therefore, did not 
consist in the peaceful enforcement of the laws and usages of the 
Roman State, but in the illegal application of military force. 

360. Struggle between Rome and Italy : the Social War 
(90-88 B.C.). While the struggle between Senate and people was 
going on, there was increasing discontent among the Italian 
allies (§318). They had contributed as many troops to the 
army which conquered the Empire as had Rome herself, and now 
they were refused any voice in the control of that Empire or any 
just share in the immense wealth which they saw the Romans 



A Century of Revolution 233 

drawing from it. But the possession of this Empire had corrupted 
and blinded the Senate and the governing community at Rome. 

There were, happily, some statesmanlike Roman leaders, who 
planned that the Italian allies should receive citizenship. Among 
them was a wealthy and popular noble named JDrusus, who 
gained election as tribune and began to take measures leading to 
the enfranchisement of the Italian allies. But so fierce and 
savage was the opposition aroused, both in the Senate and among 
the people, that this great Roman statesman was stabbed in the 
street. Thereupon the leading Italian communities of central and 
southern Italy revolted and formed a new state and government 
of their own, with a capital which they impressively renamed 
Italica (90 B.C.). 

Defeated at first in the war which followed (90-88 b.c), the 
Romans tardily took action and granted the desired citizenship. 
The Italian communities then rejoined the Roman State. But the 
citizens residing in distant communities could not vote or take 
any part in the government unless they journeyed to Rome to 
do so.* This situation was of course an absurdity, and again illus- 
trated the inability of an ancient city-state to furnish the machin- 
ery of government for a large nation, not to mention a world 
empire. Nevertheless, Italy was now on the way to become a 
nation unified in government and in speech. 

361. Sulla defies People's Laws with an Army. At the head 
of an army he had just been leading against the Italian allies 
was a former officer of Marius, named Sulla. The Senate now 
selected him to command in a war then coming on in Asia Minor. 
But the leaders of the people would not accept the Senate's 
appointment, and they passed a law electing Marius to this com- 
mand. Now Marius had no army at the moment, but Sulla, being 
still at the head of his army, ignored the law passed by the 
people and marched with his troops on Rome. For the first time 
a Roman consul took possession of the city by force. The Senate 
was now putting through its will under military leadership, as the 
Assembly .had before done (§358). Sulla forced a new law by 
which the Assembly would always be obliged to secure the consent 



234 History of Europe 

of the Senate before it could vote on any measure. Having thus 
destroj^ed the power of the people legally to oppose the will of the 
Senate, Sulla marched off to his command in Asia Minor. 

362. Revenge of Marius and his Death (se B.C.). The Senate 
had triumphed, but with the departure of Sulla and his legions 
the people refused to submit. Marius, having entered Rome with 
troops, began a frightful massacre of the leading men of the 
senatorial party. The Senate, the first to sow seeds of violence in 
the murder of Tiberius Gracchus (§ 357), now reaped a fearful 
harvest. Marius was elected consul for the seventh time, but he 
died a few days after his election (86 b.c). Meantime the lead- 
ers of the people ruled in Rome until the day. of reckoning which 
was sure to come on the return of Sulla. 

363. Sulla gives the Senate Supreme Leadership (82-79 B.C.). 
Having finished a victorious campaign in Asia JNIinor, Sulla 
returned. On the way the Roman army of Sulla defeated the 
Roman armies of the people, one after another, and Sulla en- 
tered Rome as master of the State, without any legal power to 
justify such mastery. By means of his army he forced his own 
appointment as Dictator (82 b.c). His first action was to begin 
the systematic slaughter of the leaders of the people's party and 
the confiscation of their property. Then he forced the passage of 
a whole series of new laws which deprived the Assembly and the 
tribunes of their power and gave the supreme leadership of the 
State to the Senate. 

III. The Overthrow^ of the Republic : Pompey 

AND C^SAR 

364. People elect Pompey Consul and regain Power (70 b.c). 

Following the death of Sulla the people's party at once began agi- 
tation for the repeal of his hateful laws, which bound the people 
and the tribunes hand and foot. The people had now learned 
that they must have a military leader. They found him in a former 
officer of Sulla, named Pompey. He was elected consul. (70 b.c) 
chiefly because he agreed to repeal the obnoxious laws of Sulla. 



A Century of Revolution 



23s 



He kept his promise, and this service to the people then secured 
to Pompey a military command of great importance. 

365. Achievements of Pompey (67-62 B.C.). Such was the 
neglect of the Senate to protect shipping that the pirates of 
the East had overrun the whole Mediterranean (§350). They 
even appeared at the mouth of the Tiber, robbing and burning. 
Therefore, 67 b.c, the Assembly of the people passed a law giving 
Pompey supreme command in the 
Mediterranean. He quickly cleared 
the whole Mediterranean of pirates. 
When his command was enlarged 
to include Asia Minor and Syria, 
he crushed the remnant of the 
kingdom of the Seleucids (§ 272) 
and made Syria a Roman province. 
He entered Jerusalem and brought 
the home of the Jews under Roman 
control. Before he turned back, the 
legions under his leadership had 
marched along the Euphrates and 
had looked down upon the Caspian. 
There had been no such conquests 
in the Orient since the campaigns 
of the Great Macedonian, and to 
the popular imagination Pompey 
seemed a new Alexander marching 
in triumph through the East. 

366. Rise of Caesar ; his Election as Consul (59 B.C.). Mean- 
time a new popular hero had arisen at Rome. He was a nephew 
of Marius, named Julius Csesar (Fig. 61), born in the year 
100 B.C. He took up the cause of Marius and thus quickly gained 
a foremost place among the leaders of the people. 

Caesar, however, met one serious setback. Catiline, a senator 
of evil reputation, whom Caesar had supported for the consulship, 
was defeated. Catiline gathered about him a large body of 
dangerous followers and tried to seize the government. He failed 




Fig. 61. Bust said to be a 
Portrait of Julius "CiESAR 

The ancient portraits commonly 

accepted as those of Julius Csesar 

are really of uncertain identity 



236 History of Europe 

because of the vigilance of the consul, the great orator Cicero 
(§ 386), and died fighting at the head of his outlawed followers. 
Caesar was suspected of connection with this uprising of Catiline, 
and the suspicion seriously affected his political career. 

When Pompey returned to Italy, hailed as the great conqueror 
of the Orient, he needed political influence to secure the Senate's 
formal approval of his actions in Asia Minor and a grant of land 
for his troops. For two years the Senate refused Pompey these 
concessions. Then Caesar, to gain the help of Pompey, stepped 
forward in Pompey's support, and the two secured the adherence 
to their plans of a very wealthy Roman noble named Crassus. 
This private alliance of these three powerful men (called a '' trium- 
virate") gave them the control of the situation. As a result 
Caesar was elected consul for the year 59 b. c. 

367. Caesar's Achievements in Gaul (ss-sob.c). The con- 
sulship was but a step in Caesar's plans. Having fearlessly put 
through new land laws for the benefit of the people, Caesar then 
provided for his own future career. It was clear to him that he 
must have an important military command in order to gain an 
army. He saw a great opportunity in the West, in the vast 
country now modern France, then occupied by the Gauls (see 
map, IV, p. 218). He had no difficulty in securing his appoint- 
ment as governor of Gaul on both sides of the Alps for five years. 

Caesar took charge of his new province early in 58 B.C. and 
at once showed himself a military commander of surpassing skill. 
In eight years of march and battle he subdued the Gauls and 
conquered their territory from the ocean and the English Channel 
eastward to the Rhine. He even crossed the Channel and carried 
an invasion of Britain as far as the Thames. He added a vast 
dominion to the Roman Empire, comprising in general the ter- 
ritory of modern France and Belgium. We should not forget 
that his conquest brought Latin into France, as the ancestor from 
which French speech has descended (see map, IV, p. 218). 

368. Caesar's View of the Situation as a Statesman. Caesar 
had shown himself at Rome a successful politician. In Gaul 
he proved his ability as a brilliant soldier. Was he also a great 



A Century of Revolution 237 

statesman, or was he, like Pompey, merely to seek a succession of 
military commands and to accomplish nothing to deliver Rome 
from being the helpless plaything of one military commander after 
another ? Caesar's understanding of the situation at Rome was 
perfectly clear. The old machinery of government furnished by 
the Republic possessed no means of preventing the rise in the 
provinces of one ambitious general after another to fight for con- 
trol of the State, as Marius and Sulla had done. The old repub- 
lican system could consequently never again restore order and 
stable government to Italy and the Empire. 

The situation therefore demanded an able and patriotic com- 
mander with an army behind him, who should make himself the 
undisputed and permanent master of the Roman government and 
subdue all other competitors. Caesar therefore steadily pursued 
this aim. One of his cleverest moves was the publication of a 
history of his campaigns in Gaul, which he had found time to write 
even in the midst of dangerous marches and critical battles. Al- 
though it is one of the greatest works of Latin prose, the book 
was really a political pamphlet, intended to tell the Roman people 
the story of the vast conquests which they owed to their governor 
in Gaul. It did not fail of its purpose. At present it is the best- 
known Latin reading book for beginners in that language, 

369. Pompey supports the Senate. When Caesar's second 
term as governor of Gaul drew near its end, his supporters in Rome, 
instructed by him, were arranging for his second election to the 
consulship. The Senate, dreading his return to Italy, were seeking 
another military leader like Sulla. The leading senators therefore 
made offers to Pompey, in spite of the fact that thus far he had 
been a leader of the people's party. He was no statesman and 
was simply looking for a command. The result was that he 
undertook to defend the cause of the Senate. What should have 
been a lawful political contest thus again became a military strug- 
gle between two commanding generals', Caesar and Pompey, like 
that of Marius and Sulla a generation earlier. 

370. Caesar maneuvers Pompey out of Italy and is elected 
Consul (49 B.C.). Caesar endeavored to compromise with the 



238 . History of Europe 

Senate, but on receiving as their reply a summons to disband his 
army, he had no hesitation as to his future action. The pro- 
fessional soldiers who now made up a Roman army felt no re- 
sponsibility as citizens, but were usually greatly attached to their 
commanding general. The veterans of Caesar's campaigns in Gaul 
were unswervingly devoted to him. Before the Senate's message 
had been an hour in his hands Caesar and his troops had crossed 
the Rubicon, the little stream which formed the boundary of his 
province, toward Rome (49B.C.). Beyond this boundary Caesar 
had no legal right to lead his forces. In crossing it he had taken 
a step which became so memorable that we still speak of any great 
decision as a " crossing of the Rubicon." 

The swiftness of Caesar's lightning blows was always one of 
the greatest reasons for his success. Totally unprepared for so 
swift a response on Caesar's part, the Senate turned to Pompey, 
who informed them that the forces at his command could not 
hold Rome against Caesar. As Pompey retreated the majority of 
the senators and a large number of nobles fled with him and his 
army. By skillful maneuvers Caesar forced Pompey and his 
followers to forsake Italy and cross over to Greece. Being now 
in possession of Rome, Caesar, after a brief dictatorship, was 
elected consul, and could then assume the role of lawful defender 
of Rome against the Senate and the army of Pompey. 

371. Caesar defeats Pompey and the Armies of the Senate 
(49-48 B.C.). Caesar's position, however, was not yet secure. 
Pompey could muster all the peoples and kingdoms of the Orient 
against him. Furthermore, Pompey held the great fleet with which 
he had suppressed the pirates, and he was thus master of the sea. 
With all the East at his back he was improving every moment 
to gather and discipline an army with which to crush Caesar. 
Furthermore, some of Pompey's officers held Spain. Caesar was 
therefore obliged to reckon with the followers of Pompey on both 
sides. East and West. He determined to deal with the West first. 
With his customary swiftness he was in Spain by June (49 b.c). 
Here, by cutting off their supplies, he forced Pompey's command- 
ers to surrender without fighting a battle. 



A Century of Revolution 239 

Having heard of Caesar's departure into Spain, Pompey and his 
great group of senators and nobles were preparing at their leisure 
to cross over and again take possession of Italy. Before they could 
even begin the crossing, Caesar had returned from Spain victorious, 
and to their amazement, notwithstanding the fact that they con- 
trolled the sea, he embarked at Brundisium, evaded their war- 
ships, and landed his army on the coast of Epirus (see map, 
p. 90). After some reverses, and in spite of his inferior numbers, 
Caesar accepted battle with Pompey at Pharsalus, in Thessaly 
(48 B.C.). Pompey was crushingly defeated, and his army 
surrendered. 

372. Caesar completes the Conquest of the Mediterranean 
World (48-45 B.C.). Pompey then escaped into Egypt, where he 
was basely murdered. Caesar, following Pompey to Egypt, found 
ruling there the beautiful Cleopatra, the last of the Ptolemies. 
The charms of this remarkable queen and the political advantages 
of her friendship met a ready response on the part of the great 
Roman. We know little of the campaign by which Caesar next 
overthrew his opponents in Asia Minor. It was from there that 
he sent his famous report to the Senate : " I came, I saw, I con- 
quered" (veni, vidi, vici). The only other obstacles to Caesar's 
complete control of the empire of the world were all disposed of 
by March, 45 b.c, a little over four years after he had first taken 
possession of Italy with his army (map, IV, p. 218). 

373. Caesar's Reorganization of the State and Empire. 
Caesar used his power with great moderation and humanity. 
From the first he had taken great pains to show that his methods 
were not those of the bloody Sulla. It is clear that he intended 
his own position to be that of a Hellenistic sovereign like Alex- 
ander the Great. Nevertheless, he was too wise a statesman to 
abolish at once the outward forms of the Republic. He made his 
power seem legal by having himself made Dictator for life, and 
he assumed also the powers of the other leading offices of the State. 

Caesar lived only five years (49-44 b.c.) after his first conquest 
of Italy (49 B.C.). Of this period, as we have seen, four years 
were almost wholly occupied by campaigns. Little time was 



240 History of Europe 

therefore left him for the colossal task of reshaping the Roman 
State and organizing the vast Roman Empire, the task in which 
the Roman Senate had so completely failed. Caesar did not 
abolish the Senate, but he greatly increased its numbers and filled 
it with his own friends and adherents, some of them provincials. 
He began far-reaching reforms of the corrupt Roman administra- 
tion. In all this he was beginning the Roman Empire. He was 
in fact its first emperor, and only his untimely death prolonged 
the last struggles of the Republic for fifteen years more. 

374. Caesar's Vast Plans and his Death (44 B.C.). Caesar 
sketched vast plans for the rebuilding of Rome ; he laid out great 
roads along the important lines of communication ; and he com- 
pletely reformed the government of cities. He put an end to 
centuries of inconvenience with the Greco-Roman moon-calendar 
by introducing into Europe the more practical Egyptian calen- 
dar (§ 23), which we are still using, though with inconvenient 
later alterations. 

But there were still men in Rome who were not ready to sub- 
mit to the rule of one man. On the fifteenth of March, 44 b.c, 
three days before the date arranged for his departure on a great 
campaign beyond the Euphrates, these men struck down the 
greatest of the Romans. If some of his murderers, like Brutus 
and Cassius (headpiece, p. 244), fancied themselves patriots over- 
throwing a tyrant, they little understood how vain were all such 
efforts to restore the ancient Republic. World dominion and its 
military power had destroyed forever the Roman Republic, and 
the murder of Caesar again plunged Italy and the Empire into 
civil war. 

IV. The Triumph of Augustus and the End of 

THE Civil War 

375. Early Career of Caesar's Nephew, Octavian (Augustus). 
Over in lllyria the terrible news from Rome found the murdered 
statesman's grand-nephew Octavian (Fig. 62), a youth of eighteen, 
quietly pursuing his studies. A letter from his mother, brought 
by a secret messenger, bade him flee far away eastward without 



A Century of Revolution 



241 



delay, in order to escape all danger at the hands of his uncle's 
murderers. The youth's reply was to proceed without a moment's 
hesitation to Rome. This statesmanlike decision of character 
reveals the quality of the young man both as he then showed it 
and for years to follow. 

On his arrival in Italy Octavian learned that he had been legally 
adopted by Caesar and also made his sole heir. He was too young 
to be regarded as dangerous by 
Caesar's enemies. But his young 
shoulders carried a very old head. 
He slowly gathered the threads 
of the tangled situation in his 
clever fingers, not forgetting the 
lessons of his adoptive father's 
career, — especially the necessity 
of military power. Then playing 
the game of politics, with several 
legions at his back, he showed 
himself a statesman no longer to 
be ignored. The murderers of 
Caesar were defeated and slain 
in a great battle at Philippi (42 
B.C.), and within ten years after 
Caesar's assassination this youth 
of twenty-eight gained complete 
control of Italy and the West. 

376. Octavian ends a Century of Revolution and Civil War 
(133-30 B.C.). Caesar's friend and lieutenant, Antony, with whom 
Octavian had joined hands, had meantime shown that he had no 
ability as a serious statesman. His prestige was greatly dimmed 
by a disastrous campaign against the Parthians. Dazzled by the 
attractions of Cleopatra, Antony was now living in Alexandria and 
Antioch, where he ruled the East as far as the Euphrates like an 
oriental sovereign. He and Cleopatra cherished hopes of ruling 
Rome. The tales of all this reached Octavian and the Ro'mans. 
Octavian soon saw that Antony must be overthrown. He easily 




Fig. 62. Portrait of Augus- 
tus, NOW IN THE Boston Mu- 
seum OF Fine Arts 



242 History of Europe 

induced the Senate to declare war on Cleopatra, and thus he 
was able to advance against Antony. As Caesar and Pompey, 
representing the West and the East, had once before faced each 
other on a battlefield in Greece (§ 371), so now Octavian and 
Antony, the leaders of the West and the East, met at Actium 
on the west coast of Greece. The outcome was a sweeping victory 
for the heir of Caesar. 

The next year Octavian landed in Egypt and took possession of 
that ancient land. Antony, probably forsaken by Cleopatra, took 
his own life. The proud queen too, unwilling to grace Octavian's 
triumph at Rome, died by her own hand. She was the last of 
the Ptolemies ( § 271), the rulers of Egypt for nearly three hun- 
dred years, since Alexander the Great. Octavian therefore made 
Egypt Roman territory (30 B.C.). To the West, which he already 
controlled, Octavian had now added also the East. Thus he had 
restored the unity of Roman dominions. The lands under his 
control encircled the Mediterranean, and the entire Mediterranean 
world was under the power of a single ruler. 

377. Summary of a Century of Revolution. The struggle 
between the rich and the poor which resulted in violence under 
the Gracchus brothers after 133 B.C. was accompanied by the rise 
of military leaders, who gained great power and wealth in the 
newly conquered possessions. They were then able to rule and 
control the State in defiance of the laws. A century of strife, 
including many years of civil war between the leaders of the 
people and the Senate, resulted in the overthrow of the Republic 
(about 30 B.C.). Octavian's success marked the final triumph of 
one-man power in the entire ancient world, as it had long ago 
triumphed in the Orient. The century of strife which Octavian's 
victory ended was now followed by two centuries of profound 
peace. These were the first two centuries of the Roman Empire, 
beginning in 30 b. c.^ We shall now take up these two centuries 
of peace in the two following chapters. 

1 It should be noticed that these two centuries of peace did not begin with the 
Christian Era. They began thirty years before the first year of the Christian Era, and 
hence the two centuries of peace do not correspond exactly with the first two centuries 
of our Christian Era. 



A Century of Revolution 



243 



QUESTIONS 

I. What dangers now threatened Rome in Italy ? outside of Italy ? 
Tell the story of the Gracchus brothers. 

II. How did the people gain more enduring power ? Mention the 
achievements of Marius ; his failures. What caused disunion in Italy? 
How was it finally removed ? How did the Senate now gain power ? 
How did the people retaliate ? Describe the triumph of Sulla. 

III. How did the people regain power ? Describe Pompey's cam- 
paigns. How did Cassar rise ? What did he accomplish as governor ? 
What was his view of the political situation of Rome ? What did he 
write? Recount his struggle with the Senate. / 

What happened to Pompey's army in Italy ? in Spain ? in Greece ? 
Where did Caesar go after the Battle of Pharsalus ? What territory 
did he finally control (see map, IV, p. 218) ? What did he accomplish 
after his triumph ? When and how did he die ? 

IV. Describe the situation and first action of Octavian on hearing 
of his uncle's death. What did he achieve in the next ten years ? 
Recount his struggle with Antony. What period did this victory end ? 
What kind of rule and what period did it begin ? 

Note. The tailpiece below shows a restoration of a magnificent marble inclosure 
containing the "Altar of Augustan Peace," erected by order of the .Senate in honor of 
Augustus. The inclosure was open to the sky, and its surrounding walls, of which portions 
still exist, are covered below by a broad band of ornamental plant spirals, very sumptuous 
in effect. Above it is a series of reliefs. 






CHAPTER XVII 

THE FIRST CENTURY OF PEACE: THE AGE OF AUGUSTUS 
AND THE SUCCESSORS OF HIS LINE 



The Rule of Augustus (30B.C.-A.D. 14) and 
Beginning of Two Centuries of Peace 



THE 



378. Octavian's Moderate Policy. When Octavian returned to 
Italy all classes rejoiced at the termination of a hundred years 
of revolution, civil war, and devastation. The great majority of 
Romans now felt that an individual ruler was necessary for the 
control of the vast Roman dominions. Octavian therefore entered 
upon forty-four years of peaceful effort to give to the Roman 
Empire the efficient organization and good government which it 
had so long lacked. His most difficult task was to alter the old 
form of the State so as to make legal the position in the govern- 
ment which he had taken by military force. Unlike Caesar, Octavian 
felt a sincere respect for the institutions of the Roman Re- 
public and did not wish to destroy them nor to gain for himself 
the throne of an oriental sovereign. 

379. Organization of the Roman State by Octavian. Accord- 
ingly, on returning to Rome, Octavian did not disturb the Senate, 
but did much to improve its membership. Indeed, he voluntarily 
handed over his powers to the Senate and the Roman people in 

Note. The above headpiece shows us the two sides of a coin issued by Brutus, one 
of the leading assassins of JuHus Caesar (§ 374). On one is the head of Brutus ; on the 
other are two daggers, intended to recall the assassination of Caesar, and between them 
appears the cap of liberty, to suggest the liberty which the Romans supposedly gained 
by his murder, while there appears, below, the inscription EID MAR, which means 
the Ides of March (the Roman term for the fifteenth of March), the date of Caesar's 
murder. 

244 



The First Century of Peace 245 

January, 27 b.c. The Senate thereupon, fully aware of the 
strength of Octavian and realizing by past experience that it 
did not possess the organization for ruling the great Roman world, 
gave him officially the command of the army and the control of 
the most important frontier provinces. Besides these vast powers 
he held also the important rights of a tribune (§§ 303, 357), and 
on this last office he chiefly based his right to power. 

At the same time the Senate conferred upon him the title of 
Augustus, that is, ''the august" ; but his chief official title was 
Princeps, that is, " the first," meaning the first of the citizens. 
Another title given the head of the Roman Empire was an old 
word for commander or general ; namely, Imperator, from 
which our word " emperor" is derived. Augustus, as we may now 
call Octavian, regarded his position as that of an official of the 
Roman Republic, elected by the Senate and the people. 

The Roman Empire, which here emerges, was thus under a 
double government of the Senate and of the Princeps, whom we 
commonly call the emperor. But this double power was not well 
balanced. The old authority of the Senate could not be main- 
tained reign after reign, when the Senate controlled no army. 
The Princeps held too much power to remain a mere elected 
magistrate. He was the real ruler, because the legions were behind 
him, and the so-called republican State created by Augustus 
tended to become a military monarchy, as we shall see. 

380. Peace Policy of Augustus. The Empire which Rome 
now ruled consisted of the entire Mediterranean world (map, I, 
p. 260). Back from the Mediterranean the frontier boundaries 
were a pressing question. There was a natural boundary in the 
south, the Sahara, and also in the west, the Atlantic ; but on the 
north and east further conquests might be made. In the main 
Augustus adopted the policy of organizing and consolidating the 
Empire as he found it, without making further conquests. In 
the east his boundary thus became the Euphrates, and in the 
north the Danube and the Rhine. 

For the defense of these vast frontiers it was necessary to main- 
tain a large standing army. It probably contained, on the average, 



246 History of Europe 

about two hundred and twenty-five thousand men. It was now 
recruited chiefly from the provinces, and the foreign soldier who 
entered the ranks received citizenship in return for his service. 
Thus the fiction that the army was made up of citizens 
was maintained. But the tramp of the legions was heard no 
more in Italy. Henceforth they were posted far out on the 
frontiers, and the citizens at home saw nothing of the troops 
who defended them excepting the emperor's bodyguard. 

381. The Great Task of organizing the Provinces. Within 
these frontiers Augustus now undertook to organize government 
for the entire Mediterranean world. Great peoples and nations 
had to be provided for in the huge Empire ^nd given honest and 
efficient government. Some of them had old and successful sys- 
tems of government ; others had no government at all. Egypt, for 
example, had long before possessed the most highly organized 
administration in the ancient world, but regions of the West, like 
Gaul, had not yet been given a system of government. All this 
Augustus endeavored to do. 

The appointment of a provincial governor now rested almost 
wholly with the emperor, and such a governor knew that he was 
responsible to him for wise and honest government of his terri- 
tory. He also knew that if he proved successful he could hold 
his post for years or be promoted to a better one. There thus 
grew up under the permanent control of Augustus and his suc- 
cessors a body of experienced and efficient provincial adminis- 
trators (contrast §342). 

382. The Mediterranean World becoming a Mediterranean 
Nation. The great Mediterranean world now entered upon a 
new age of prosperity and development such as the nations along 
its shores, long accustomed to fight each other in war after war, 
had never known before. A process of unification began which 
was to make the Mediterranean world a Mediterranean nation. 
The national threads of our historical narrative have heretofore 
been numerous, as we have followed the stories of the oriental 
nations, of Athens, Sparta, Macedonia, Rome, Carthage, and 
others. For a long time we have followed these narratives sepa- 
rately like individual strands ; but now they are to be twisted 



The First Century of Peace 247 

together into a single thread of national history, that of the Roman 
Empire. The great exceptions are the German barbarians in the 
North and the unconquered Orient east of the Euphrates. 



II. The Civilization of the Augustan Age 

383. The Work of Augustus on Behalf of Italy and Rome. 

In the new Mediterranean nation thus growing up it was the 
purpose of Augustus that Italy should occupy a leading position. 
He made a remarkable effort to restore the fine old days of Roman 
virtue, the good old Roman customs, the beliefs of the fathers. 
He also undertook to rebuild Rome and make it the leading art 
center of the ancient world. On the Palatine Hill he rebuilt 
several dwelling houses into a palace for his residence. From 
this royal dwelling on the Palatine arose our English word 
" palace." 

The palace looked down upon an imposing array of new marble 
buildings surrounding the ancient Forum (§296). The finest of 
these was the magnificent business hall (basilica) erected by 
Caesar, left unfinished and then damaged by fire. It was now 
restored and completed by Augustus (Fig. 65, E). On the north 
of the old Forum Caesar had constructed another, called the Forum 
of Caesar (Fig. 65, N) ; but the growing business of the city led 
Augustus to build a third forum, known as the Forum of Augustus 
(Fig. 65, 0), which he placed next to that of Caesar (see Ancient 
Times, Fig, 247). The first stone theater in Rome had been built 
by Pompey (plan, p. 248). Augustus erected a larger and more 
magnificent one. 

384. Influence of Greece and the Orient on Roman Archi- 
tecture. In this new architecture of Rome, Greek models were 
the controlling influence. Nevertheless, oriental influences also 
were very prominent. Greek architecture did not employ the arch 
so long used in the Orient, but the architects of Rome now gave 
it a place of prominence along with the colonnade, as the two 
leading features of their buildings. It was through these Roman 
buildings that the arch gained its important place in our own 
modern architecture. (See Ancient Times, p. 611,) 



248 



History of Europe 



385. Weakness of Rome in Art and Science. There were 
no creative sculptors in Rome like those whom we have met in 
Athens. Neither did a single great painter arise there, and the 
painting which was practiced was chiefly that of wall decoration, 




Map of Rome under the Emperors 



in the Greek or Hellenistic manner as we find it in the houses 
of Pompeii (Fig. 68), which we are yet to visit. 

If Rome was a borrower in art, she was even more so in science. 
Rome had no such men as Archimedes (§ 280) and Eratosthenes 
(§ 281). The leading geography of the time was written by a 
Greek living in Rome, named Strabo. Although it sadly lacked 
in scientific method, it was for many centuries the world's 
standard geography and may still be read with great pleasure and 
profit as an ancient book of travel. 




Figs. 63 and 64. Sculptures of Hellenistic Pergamum 

Above (Fig. 63) is a Gallic trumpeter, as he sinks in death with his 
trumpet at his feet (§ 278). Below (Fig. 64) is a part of the frieze 
around the great altar of Zeus at Pergamum (Fig. 52). It pictures the 
mythical struggle between gods and giants. A giant at the left, whose 
limbs end in serpents, raises over his head a great stone to hurl it at 
the goddess on the right (§ 278) 




Fig. 65. The Roman Forum and its Public Buildings in the 
Early Empire. (After Luckenbach) 

We look across the ancient market place {F, § 296) to the Tiber with its 
ships at the head of navigation. On each side of the market place (F), 
where we see the buildings {E,/, and D, G, /), were once rows of little 
wooden booths for selling meat, fish, and other merchandise. Especially 
after the beginning of the Carthaginian wars these were displaced by fine 
buildings Hke the basilica hall D, built not long after 200 B.C. Note the 
Attic roofs and colonnades and the clerestory windows of the basilicas (D, E) 
copied from the Hellenistic cities (§ 276), and originally from the Orient 
(Fig. 16). It was soon to be adopted as a form for Christian church buildings. 
See complete key on opposite page, footnote * 



The First Century of Peace 249 

386. Leading Cultivated Men at Rome ; Cicero. Indifference 
to science at Rome was in marked contrast with Roman interest 
in literature. The leading Romans displayed in some cases an 
almost pathetic devotion to literary studies, even while weighed 
down with the heaviest responsibilities. Caesar put together a 
treatise on Latin speech while crossing the Alps in a palanquin, 
when his mind must have been filled with the problems of his 
great wars in Gaul. Such men as these had studied in Athens or 
Rhodes and were deeply versed in Greek learning and literature. 
They spoke Greek every day among themselves, perhaps more 
than they did Latin. 

The most cultivated man Rome ever produced was Cicero 
(§ 366). In the struggle to save the Republic, Cicero had failed 
as a statesman. Thereupon he devoted himself to his literary 
pursuits. As the greatest orator in Roman history he had already 
done much to perfect and beautify Latin prose in the orations 
which he delivered in the course of his career as a lawyer and a 
statesman. After his retirement he produced a group of remark- 
able treatises on duty, the gods, friendship, old age, and the like, 
and he left behind also several hundred letters which were pre- 
served by his friends. As one of the last sac»ifices of the civil 
wars, Cicero had fallen by the hands of Antony's brutal soldiery ; 
but his writings were to exert an undying influence. They made 
Latin speech one of the most beautiful instruments of human ex- 
pression, and as an example of the finest literary style they have 

* The Sacred Way (plan, p. 248) passed the Httle circular temple of Vesta 
{A) and reached the Forum at the Arch of Augustus (B) and the Temple 
of the Deified Julius Cassar (C). On the right was the oldest basilica in the 
Forum (D) and on the left the magnificent new Basilica of Julius Cassar {£) 
{§ 3^3)- Opposite this, across the old Forum market place (^), was the new 
Senate House {G) planned by Julius Caesar (§§ 374, 383). At the upper end 
of the Forum was the new speaker's platform (//) ; near it Septimius Severus 
(§430) later erected his crude arch (/). Beyond rises the Capitol, with the 
Temple of Saturn (/) and the Temple of Concord (A') at its base ; above, on 
its slope, is the Tabularium (Z), a place of public records; and on the summit 
of the Capitol the Temple of Jove (Af). Julius Caesar extended the Forum 
northward by laying out his new Forum (.A') behind his Senate House (G). 
The subsequent growth of the emperors' Forums on this side may be seen in 
Ancient Times, Fig. 247, where the same lettering is repeated and continued. 



2 50 History of Europe 

influenced the best writing in all the various languages of Europe 
during the Middle Ages and in modern times. 

387. Rise of Poetry in the Augustan Age ; Horace and 
Virgil. Thus in the last days of the Republic, in spite of turbu- 
lence and civil war, Cicero and the men of his time had perfected 
Latin prose. On the other hand, the greatest of Latin poetry 
arose under the inspiration of the early Empire and the universal 
peace established by Augustus. Horace, the leading poet of the 
time, although only the son of a freedman of unknown race, had 
studied in Greece. He knew the old Greek lyric poets (§ 174) 
who had suffered danger and disaster as he himself had done in 
the long civil war. With the haunting echoes of old Greek poetry 
in his soul, he began to write of the men and the life of his own 
time. The poems of Horace will always remain one of the greatest 
legacies from the ancient world — a treasury of Roman life as 
pictured by a ripe and cultivated mind, unsurpassed even in the 
highly developed literature of the Greeks. 

Virgil, the other great poet of the Augustan Age, spent much of 
his time in the quiet of his ancestral farm under the shadow of 
the Alps in the North. Here, as he looked out upon his own fields, 
the poet began to* write verses like those of Theocritus (§ 283), 
reflecting to us in all its poetic beauty the rustic life of his time 
on the green hillsides of Italy. As time passed he gained an 
exalted vision of the mission of Rome, and especially of Au- 
gustus, as the restorer of world peace. Virgil then undertook the 
creation of a great epic poem, in which he pictured the wanderings 
of the Trojan hero iEneas escaping from burning Troy to Italy. 
There in the course of many her(5ic adventures ^Eneas founded the 
royal line of Latium (headpiece, p. 189). From him, according 
to the story, were descended the Julian family, the Caesars, the an- 
cestors of Augustus. Deeply admired by the age that produced it, 
the ^neid (as this poem is called after ^neas) has ever since 
been one of the leading schoolbooks of the civilized world and 
has had an abiding influence on the best literature of later times. 

388. Death of Augustus (a.d. 14) and his Account of his 
Deeds. Augustus himself, when he was over seventy-five years 



The First Century oj Peace 251 

old and felt his end approaching, put together a narrative of his 
career, which was engraved on bronze tablets and set up before 
his tomb. In this simple story the career of Augustus is unfolded 
with such grandeur as to make the document the most impressive 
brief record of a great man's life which has survived to us from 
the ancient world. Almost with his last breath Augustus penned 
the closing lines of this remarkable record, and on the nineteenth 
of August, the month which bears his name, in the fourteenth 
year of the Christian Era, the first of the Roman emperors died. 

III. The Line of Augustus and the End of the 
First Century of Peace (a.d. 14-68) 

389. The Four Successors of the Line of Augustus (a.d. 14-68). 
Augustus had been in supreme control of the great Roman world 
for nearly half a century. Four descendants of his family, either 
by blood or adoption, were to rule for more than another half 
century and thus to fill out the first century of peace. Augustus 
had never put forward a law providing for the appointment of his 
successors. Any prominent Roman citizen might have aspired 
to the office. Augustus left no son, and one after another his 
male heirs had died. He. had finally been obliged to ask the 
Senate to associate with him his stepson Tiberius, his wife's son 
by an earlier marriage. 

390. Tiberius (a.d. 14-37) and Caligula (a.d. 37-41). At the 
death of Augustus, the Senate, therefore, at once appointed Ti- 
berius to all his stepfather's powers and without any limit as to 
time. He was an able soldier and an experienced man of affairs. 
He gave the provinces wise and efficient governors and showed him- 
self a skilled and successful ruler. Tiberius no longer allowed the 
Roman rabble to go through the farce of voting on what the em- 
peror had already decided, and even the appearance of a govern- 
ment by the Roman people thus finally disappeared forever. 

As Tiberius had lost his son, the choice for his successor fell 
upon Gaius Caesar, a great-grandson of Augustus, nicknamed 
Caligula ("little boot") by the soldiers among whom he was 



252 



History of Europe 



brought up. After a mad career of drunkenness and debauchery 
this mockery of a reign was brought to a sudden close by Caligula's 
own officers, who put an end to his life in his palace on the 
Palatine, when he had reigned only four years. 

391. Claudius (a.d. 41-54). The imperial guards, ransacking 
the palace after the death of Caligula, found in hiding the trem- 
bling figure of a nephew of Tiberius and uncle of the dead 




:^T,i ^T^Wigr^!^ : -'^ 



Fig. 66. The Aqueduct of the Emperor Claudius 

This wonderful aqueduct, built by the Emperor Claudius about the middle of 
the first century after Christ, is over forty miles long. About three fourths 
of it is subterranean, but the last ten miles consists of tall arches of massive 
masonry, as seen here at the left, supporting the channel in which the water 
flowed till it reached the palace of the emperor on the Palatine (plan, p. 248). 
Such ancient Roman aqueducts were so well built that four of them are still 
in use at Rome, and they convey to the city a more plentiful supply of water 
than any great modern city elsewhere receives 

Caligula, named Claudius. Though now fifty years old, he had 
always been merely tolerated by his family as a man both 
physically and mentally inferior. But the guards hailed him as 
emperor, nevertheless, and the Senate was obliged to consent. 
Nevertheless Claudius accomplished much for the Empire and 
devoted himself to its affairs (Fig. 66). He conducted in person 
a successful campaign in Britain and for the first time made its 



The First Century of Peace 2 53 

southern portion a province of the Empire. It was this conquest 
which probably even then began to bring elements of Latin speech 
into the English language, for Britain remained a Roman province 
for three and a half centuries. 

392. The Infamy of Nero (a.d. 54-68). Agrippina, the last 
wife of Claudius, was able to push aside his son, Britannicus, 
and to obtain succession to the throne for her own son, Nero. 
Not only on his mother's side but also on his father's, Nero was 
descended from the family of Augustus. His mother had intrusted 
his education to the philosopher Seneca, and for the first five years 
of his reign, while Seneca was his chief minister, the rule of Nero 
was wise and successful. Then palace intrigues removed this able 
minister from the court. Nero's strong-minded mother, Agrippina, 
was also banished. Thereafter he cast aside all restraint and fol- 
lowed his own evil nature in a career of such vice and cruelty 
that the name of Nero has ever since been regarded as one of 
the blackest in all history. 

Nero was devoted to art and wished personally to follow it. 
He even made a tour of Greece as a musician and composer. 
As the companion of actors, sportsmen, and prize fighters he even 
took part in gladiatorial exhibitions. His cowardly and suspicious 
nature led him to condemn his old teacher, Seneca, to death, and 
also to cause the assassination of the son of Claudius and of 
many other innocent and deserving men. In the same way he was 
persuaded to take the life of his wife, and, to crown his infamy, 
he even had his own mother assassinated. 

A great disaster, meantime, took place in Rome. A huge fire 
broke out and destroyed a large portion of the city. Dark rumors 
ran through the streets that Nero himself had set fire to the city 
that he might rebuild it more splendidly, and gossip told how he 
sat watching the conflagration while reciting to the lyre a poem 
of his own on the destruction of Troy. There is no evidence to 
support these rumors. But under the circumstances Nero himself 
welcomed another version, which accused a new sect, the Chris- 
tians, of having started the fire, and he executed a large number 
of them with horrible tortures. 



2 54 History of Europe 

393. Death of Nero and End of the First Century of Peace 
(a.d. 68). The dissatisfaction at Rome, and Nero's treatment of 
the only able men around him, deprived him of support there. 
Then the provinces began to chafe under heavy taxation. This 
discontent finally broke out in open revolt and rebellious troops 
marched on Rome from several points. The cowardly Nero went 
into hiding, and on hearing that the Senate had voted his death, 
he theatrically stabbed himself and, attitudinizing to the last, 
passed away uttering the words, "What an artist dies in me! " 
Thus ended (a.d. 68) the last ruler of the line of Augustus, and 
with him closed the first century of .peace (31 b.c.-a.d. 68) ; for 
several Roman commanders now struggled for the throne and 
threatened to involve the Empire in another long civil war, 

QUESTIONS 

I. Describe the new state organized by Octavian. What was his 
. policy regarding conquests ? What can you say of his army ? Who 

appointed the governors ? What was the result ? 

II. What position did Augustus desire for Italy ? What did he do 
for Rome ? Whence did Rome inherit her architecture ? her art and 
science ? Discuss Roman interest in Hterature. Who was Rome's 
most cultivated man ? What position does he hold in literature ? 
What can you say about Horace ? about Virgil ? What did Augustus 
write ? When did he die ? 

III. How long did Augustus and the successors belonging to his 
family reign ? Tell of the reigns of the first two who followed him. 
What were the chief achievements of Claudius ? Tell the story of 
Nero's reign. What century ended with his death ? When ? 




CHAPTER XVIII 

THE SECOND CENTURY OF PEACE AND THE CIVILIZATION 
OF THE EARLY ROMAN EMPIRE 

I. The Emperors of the Second Century of Peace 

(beginning a.d. 69) 

394. Advent of the Second Century of Peace (a.d. 69). For 
about a year after the death of Nero the struggle among the lead- 
ing military commanders for the throne of the Caesars continued. 
Fortunately Vespasian, a very able commander in the East, was 
victorious, and a.d. 69 he was declared emperor by the Senate. 
With him, therefore, began a second century of peace under a 
line of able emperors who brought the Empire to the highest level 
of prosperity and happiness. 

Note. The above headpiece shows us the body of a citizen of Pompeii who perished 
when the city was destroyed by an eruption of \^esuvius, a.d. 79 (§404). The fine 
volcanic ashes settled around the man's body, and these rain-soaked ashes made a cast 
of his figure before it had perished. After the body had perished it left in the hardened 
mass of ashes a hollow mold, which the modern excavators poured full of plaster and 
thus secured a cast of the figure of the unfortunate man just as he lay smothered by 
the deadly ashes which overwhelmed him over eighteen hundred years ago. 

-55 



256 History of Europe 

395. Two Great Tasks of the Emperors. Two great tasks 
were accomplished by the emperors of the age we are discussing : 
first, that of perfecting the system of defenses on the frontiers ; 
and second, that of more fully developing the government and 
organization of the Empire. Let us look first at the frontiers. 
On the south the Empire was protected by the Sahara desert and 
on the west by the Atlantic, but on the north and east it was 
open to attack. The shifting German tribes constantly threatened 
the northern frontiers ; while in the east the frontier on the 
Euphrates was continually made unsafe by the Parthians, the only 
civilized power still unconquered by Rome (see map, I, p. 260). 

Owing to the pressure of the barbarians on the northern 
frontiers, Mediterranean civilization was still in constant danger 
of being overwhelmed from the North. The great problem for 
future humanity was whether the Roman emperors would be able 
to hold off the barbarians long enough to permit these rude North- 
erners to gain enough of Mediterranean civilization to respect it, 
and thus to preserve at least some of it for mankind in the future. 

396. The Flavian Emperors and the Frontier Problem 
(a. D. 69-96). The Flavian family, as we call Vespasian and his 
two sons, Titus and Domitian, did much to make the northern 
frontiers safe. Domitian adopted the frontier lines laid down by 
Augustus and planned their fortification with walls wherever neces- 
sary. But on the lower Danube he failed to crush the dangerous 
power of the growing kingdom of Dacia (see map, I, p. 260). 

397. Trajan (a.d. 98-117) and his Wars. This left the whole 
threatening situation on the lower Danube to be met by the bril- 
liant soldier Trajan. He captured one stronghold of the Dacians 
after another, and in two wars finally destroyed their capital. 
Having built a massive stone bridge across the Danube, Trajan 
made Dacia a Roman province and sprinkled plentiful Roman 
colonies on the north side of the great river. The descendants of 
these colonies in the same region still call themselves Rumanians 
and their land Rumania, a form of the word " Roman." 

Trajan then turned his attention to the eastern frontier, where 
a large portion of the boundary was formed by the upper 



The Second Century of Peace 



257 



Euphrates River. Rome thus held the western half of the Fertile 
Crescent, but it had never conquered the eastern half, with Assyria 
and Babylonia (see map, I, p. 260), which was held by the power- 
ful kingdom of the Parthians. Trajan, emulating Alexander, 
defeated the Parthians and added Armenia, Mesopotamia, and 
Assyria to the Empire as new provinces. Then a sudden rebel- 
lion in his rear forced him to a dangerous retreat. Weakened by 




Fig. 67. Restoration of the Roman Fortified Wall on the 

German Frontier 

This masonry wall, some three hundred miles long, protected the northern 
boundary of the Roman Empire between the upper Rhine and the upper 
Danube, where it was most exposed to German attack. At short intervals 
there were blockhouses along the wall, and at points of great danger strong- 
holds and barracks for the shelter of garrisons 

sickness and bitterly realizing that this great expedition was a fail- 
ure, he died in Asia Minor while returning to Rome (a.d. 117). 
398. Hadrian (a.d. ii7-i38) completes the Frontier Defenses. 
Trajan's successor, Hadrian, was another able soldier, but he had 
also the judgment of a statesman. He made no effort to continue 
Trajan's conquests in the East. On the contrary, he wisely brought 
the frontier back to the Euphrates. But he retained Dacia and 
strengthened the whole northern frontier, especially the long bar- 
rier reaching from the Rhine to the Danube, where the completion 
of the continuous wall (Fig. 67) was largely due to him. He built 
a similar wall along the northern boundary across Britain. The 



f^^S History of Europe 

line of both these walls is still visible. As a result of these wise 
measures and the impressive victories of Trajan, the frontiers were 
safe and quiet for a long time. 

399. The Army under Trajan and Hadrian. Under Trajan 
and Hadrian the army which defended these frontiers was the 
greatest and most skillfully managed organization of the kind 
which the ancient world had ever seen. Drawn from all parts 
of the Empire, the army now consisted of many different nation- 
alities, like the British army in the recent World War. A legion 
of Spaniards might be stationed on the Euphrates, or a group of 
youths from the Nile might spend many years in sentry duty on 
the wall that barred out the Germans. We are still able to hold 
in our hands the actual letters written from a northern post by a 
young Egyptian recruit in the Roman army to his father and 
sister in a distant little village on the Nile.^ Such posts were 
equipped with fine barracks and living quarters for officers and 
men, and the discipline necessary to keep the troops always ready 
to meet the barbarians outside the walls was never relaxed. 

400. Improvements in Government. Meantime the Empire 
had been undergoing important changes within. The emperors 
developed a system of government departments, headed by efficient 
ministers, such as we have in modern states. It was the wise and 
efficient Hadrian who accomplished the most in perfecting this 
organization of the government business. Thus after Rome had 
been for more than three centuries in control of the Mediterranean 
world, it finally possessed a well-developed government organi- 
zation. With the complete control of these departments entirely 
in his own hands, the power of the emperor was much increased. 

Among many changes, one of the most important was the 
abolition of the systerii of " farming " taxes ; that is, allowing them 
to be collected by private individuals for profit — a system which 
had caused both the Greeks and the Romans (§ 342) much 
trouble. Government tax collectors now everywhere gathered in 
the taxes of the great Mediterranean world. 

1 See Ancient Times, Fig. 253 and p. 631, footnote. 



The Second Century of Peace 259 

401. Rise of a System of Law for the Whole Empire. Not 

only did the subjects of this vast State pay their taxes into the 
same treasury but they were now controlled by the same laws. 
The lawyers of Rome under the emperors we are now discussing 
were the most gifted legal minds the world had ever seen. They 
altered the narrow city-\siw of Rome that it might meet the needs 
of the whole Mediterranean world. In spirit these lav.?s of the 
Empire were most fair, just, and humane. Antoninus Pius, the 
kindly emperor who followed Hadrian, maintained that an accused 
person must be held innocent until proved guilty by the evidence, 
a principle of law which has descended to us and is still part of 
our own law. These laws did much to unify the peoples of the 
Mediterranean world into a single nation ; for they were now re- 
garded by the law not as different nations but as subjects of the 
same great State, which extended to them all the same protection 
of justice, law, and order. 

402. Close Attention to the Provinces by the Emperors. 
Able and conscientious governors were now controlling affairs all 
over the Empire. Emperors like Trajan and Hadrian relieved 
the communities of much responsibility for their own affairs. 
Hence the local communities inclined more and more to depend 
upon the emperor, and their interest in public affairs and ability 
to manage them declined. This was eventually a serious cause 
of general decay, as we shall see. 

II. The Civilization of the Early Roman Empire : 

THE Provinces 

403. The Peoples of the Roman Empire. Here was a world 
of sixty-five to a hundred million souls encircling the entire 
Mediterranean. We might have stood at the Strait of Gibraltar, 
and, if human vision had been able to penetrate so far, we might 
have surveyed these peoples as our eyes swept along the Mediter- 
ranean coasts out through Africa and back through Asia and 
Europe to the Strait again. On our right in Africa would have been 
Moors, North Africans, and Egyptians ; in the eastern background. 



26o 



History of Europe 



Arabs, Jews, Phoenicians, Syrians, Armenians, and Hittites-; 
and as our eyes returned through Europe, Greeks, Italians, 
Gauls, and Iberians (Spaniards) ; while north of these were the 
Britons and some Germans within the frontier lines. All these 
people were of course very different from one another in native 










Fig. 68. A Street in Anx'Iext Pompeii as it appears To-day 

The pavement and sidewalk are in perfect condition, as when they were first 
covered by the falling ashes (§ 404). At the left is a public fountain, and in 
the foreground is a street crossing. Of the buildings on this street only half 
a story still stands, except at the left, where we see the entrances of two 
shops, with the tops of the doors in position and the walls preserved to the 

level of the second fioor above 



manners, clothing, and customs, but they all enjoyed Roman 
protection and rejoiced in the far-reaching Roman peace. For 
the most part, as we have seen, they lived in cities, and the 
life of the age was prevailingly a city life, even though many of 
the cities were small. 

404. Pompeii. Fortunately one of the provincial cities has 
been preserved to us with much that we might have seen there 



The Second Century of Peace 261 

if we could have visited it nearly two thousand years ago. The 
little city of Pompeii, covered with volcanic ashes in the brief 
reign of Titus (a.d. 79), still shows us the very streets and houses, 
the forum and the public buildings, the shops and the markets, 
and a host of other things, mirroring the very life of the people 
of this town as it was in the days when they were suddenly over- 
whelmed by the eruption of the volcano of Vesuvius (Fig. 68).^ 
Pompeii was close beside the Greek cities of southern Italy, and 
we at once discover that the place was essentially Hellenistic in 
its life and art. 

405. Improved Means of Intercourse. In some matters there 
had been great progress. This was especially true of intercourse 
and rapid communication. Everywhere the magnificent Roman 
roads, massively paved with smooth stone, like a town street, led 
straight over the hills and across the rivers by imposing bridges. 
Some of these bridges still stand and are in use to-day (Fig. 70), 
The speed of travel and communication was fully as high as that 
maintained in Europe and America a century ago, before the 
introduction of the steam railway, and the roads were better. 

By sea, however, the chief difference was the freedom from the 
old-time pirates (§ 365), and the resulting regularity of over-sea 
communications. For example, a Roman merchant could send a 
letter to his agent in Alexandria in ten days. The huge govern- 
ment corn ships that plied regularly between the Roman harbors 
and Alexandria were stately vessels carrying several thousand 
tons. Good harbors had everywhere been equipped with docks, 
and lighthouses modeled on the Pharos at Alexandria guided the 
mariners into every harbor. 

406, "Wide Extent of Commerce. Under these circumstances 
business flourished as never before. The good roads led merchants 
to trade beyond the frontiers and to find new markets. There 
was a fleet of a hundred and twenty ships plying regularly across 
the Indian Ocean between the Red Sea and the harbors of India. 
The wares which they brought were shipped west from the docks 
of Alexandria, which still remained the greatest commercial city 

1 See Ancient Times, Figs. 197, 202, 243, and 256. 



2 62 History of Europe 

on the Mediterranean, the Liverpool of the Roman Empire. There 
was a proverb that you could get everything at Alexandria except 
snow. A vast network of commerce thus covered the ancient 
world from the frontiers of China and the coast of India on the 
east to Britain and the harbors of the Atlantic on the west. 

407. Travel and Life in the Provinces. Both business and 
pleasure now made travel very common. The Roman citizen of 
means and education made his tour of the Mediterranean much 
as the modern sight-seer does. As he passed through the towns 
of the provinces, he found everywhere evidences of the generosity 
of the citizens. There were fountains, theaters, music halls, baths, 
gymnasiums, and schools, erected by wealthy men and given to 
the community. The boys and girls of these towns found open 
to them schools with teachers paid by the government, where 
all those ordinary branches of study which we have found in the 
Hellenistic Age were taught (Fig. 69). The boy who turned to 
business could engage a stenographer to teach him shorthand, 
and the young man who wished higher instruction could still find 
university teachers at Alexandria and Athens and also at a 
number of younger universities in both East and West. 

408. The Roman Traveler in Greece and the Orient. To 
such a traveler wandering in Greece and looking back some six 
hundred years to the Age of Pericles or the Persian Wars of Athens, 
Greece seemed to belong to a distant and ancient world, of which 
he had read in the histories of Thucydides and Herodotus (§§ 211, 
249). As the Roman visitor strolled through Athens or Delphi, 
he noticed many an empty pedestal, and he recalled how the villas 
of his friends at home were now adorned with the statues which 
had once occupied those empty pedestals (see § 344). The Greek 
cities which had brought forth such things were now poor and 
helpless commercially and politically. 

As the traveler passed eastward through the flourishing cities 
of Asia Minor and Syria, he might feel justifiable pride in what 
Roman rule was accomplishing. In the western half of the Fertile 
Crescent, especially just east of the Jordan, where there had 
formerly been only a nomad wilderness (§ 58), there were now 



The Second Century of Peace 



263 



prosperous towns, with 
long aqueducts, with baths, 
theaters, basilicas, and im- 
posing public buildings, of 
which the ruins even at 
the present day are aston- 
ishing. All these towns 
were not only linked to- 
gether by the fine roads we 
have mentioned but they 
were likewise connected" 
with Rome by other fine 
roads leading entirely 
across Asia Minor and the 
Balkan Peninsula. 

Beyond the desert be- 
hind these towns lay the 
former empires of Baby- 
lonia, Assyria, and Persia, 
with the ruins of their once 
great cities, all held by 
the troublesome Parthian 
Empire. Trajan's effort 
to conquer that country 
having failed (§397), the 
Roman traveler made no 
effort to extend his tour 
be3^ond this point. 

But he could take a 
great Roman galley at 
Antioch and cross over to 
Alexandria, where a still 
more ancient world awaited 
him. In the vast light- 
house, over four hundred 
years old and visible 



S«Vr^^^**^^|»^*T%^ 





^' 



' N '/ r ',^ A \; \A 



im 



" r 









-'■■\r:t>>:yi^ 



•(u 








'^^r-, ^^ 



Fui. 69. SCRIBBLINGS OF SICILIAN 

Schoolboys on a Brick in the 
Days of the Roman Empire 

In passing a brickyard these schoolboys 
of seventeen hundred years ago amused 
themselves in scribbling school exercises 
/« Greei on the soft clay bricks before 
they were baked. At the top a little boy 
who was still making capitals carefully 
wrote the capital letter S (Greek S) ten 
times, and under it the similar letter A^ also 
ten times. These he followed by the words 
"turtle" (XEAfiNA), "mill" (MTAA), and 
"pail" (KAAOS), all in capitals. Then an 
older boy, who could do more than write 
capitals, has pushed the little chap aside 
and proudly demonstrated his superiority 
by writing in two lines an exercise in tongue 
gymnastics (like " Peter Piper picked a peck 
of pickled peppers," etc.), which in our let- 
ters is as follows : 

Nai neai nea naia neoi temon, hos neoi ha naus 

This means : " Boys cut new planks for a 
new ship, that the ship might float." A 
third boy then added two lines at the bot- 
tom. The brick illustrates the spread of the 
Greek language (§ 409) and of education 
in general in the provinces under the 
Roman Empire (§ 407) 



264 



History of Europe 



for hours before he reached the harbor, he recognized the model 
of the Roman Hghthouses he had seen. Here our traveler found 
himself among a group of wealthy Greek and Roman tourists on 
the Nile. As they left the magnificent buildings of Hellenistic 
Alexandria (§ 277), their voyage up the river carried them at once 
into the midst of an earlier world — the earliest world of which 




Fig. 70. Roman Bridge and Aqueduct at Nimes, France 

This structure was built by the Romans about a.d. 20 to supply the Roman 
colony of Nemausus (now called Nimes) in southern France with water from 
two excellent springs twenty-five miles distant. It is nearly nine hundred feet 
long and one hundred and sixty feet high, and carried the water over the valley 
of the river Gard. The channel for the water is at the very top, and one 
can still walk through it. The miles of aqueduct on either side of this bridge 
and leading up to it have almost disappeared {§ 409) 



they knew. All about them at Memphis and Thebes were build- 
ings which were thousands of years old before Rome was founded. 
On these monuments we still find their scribblings at the present 
day (Fig. 17). 

409. Ancient Civilization in the East : Later Roman in the 
West. The eastern Mediterranean was regarded by the Romans 
as their ancient world. There the Roman traveler found Greek 
everywhere as far west as Sicily (Fig. 69). But when he entered 
the western Mediterranean he found that the language of civilized 



The Second Century of Peace 265 

intercourse was Latin, the language of Rome. In the western 
Mediterranean civiHzation was a recent matter, just as it is in 
America. In that age western Europe had for the first time been 
building cities ; but it was under the guidance of Roman archi- 
tects, and their buildings looked like those at Rome. We can 
still visit and study massive bridges, spacious theaters, imposing 
public monuments, sumptuous villas, and luxurious public baths — 
a line of Roman ruins stretching from Britain through southern 
France and Germany to the northern Balkans (Fig. 70). Simi- 
larly in North Africa between the desert and the sea, west of 
Carthage, the ruins of whole cities with magnificent public build- 
ings, and also of extensive Roman frontier posts, still survive to 
show us how Roman civilization developed there. 

410. The Whole Mediterranean World Highly Civilized. 
All these Roman buildings, still encircling the Mediterranean, re- 
veal to us the fact that as a result of all the ages of human 
progress which we have studied, the whole Mediterranean world. 
West as well as East, had now gained a high civilization. The 
Roman legions and their military stations stretched on the north 
of the Mediterranean from Britain to Jerusalem and on its south 
from Jerusalem to Morocco, like a dike restraining the stormy sea 
of barbarians outside, which would otherwise have poured in and 
overwhelmed the results of centuries of civilized development. 

III. The Civilization of the Early Roman 
Empire : Rome 

411. New Public Buildings of Rome. As for Rome itself, a 
visitor at the close of the reign of Hadrian found it the most 
magnificent monumental city in the world of that day. It had 
by that time quite surpassed Alexandria in size and in the number 
and splendor of its public buildings. It was especially in and 
alongside the old Forum that the grandest structures of the Em- 
pire had grown up. There Vespasian erected a vast amphitheater 
for gladiatorial combats, now known as the Colosseum (Fig. 71). 
Along the north side of the old Forum the emperors built three 



266 



History of Europe 



new forums which surpassed in magnificence anything which the 
Mediterranean world had" ever seen before (§383).^ 

In these buildings of Trajan and Hadrian the architecture of 
Rome reached its highest level of splendor and beauty, and 
also in workmanship. Sometime in the Hellenistic Age architects 
had begun to employ increasing quantities of cement concrete. 

,111 iJjJJ-LL.lLLLiiJJJ..U,U LLLLl . . 











illlliftiiliii 



iiiiliii 

» 1; ) --i— Inn- 8 



-f 1' 



■iinttiii 









f^--^.^ 



-m-" 






Fig. 71. The Vast Flavian Amphitheater at Rome, now called 
THE Colosseum. (After Luckenbach) 

Such buildings for witnessing gladiatorial combats (§ 347) were at first tem- 
porary "grand stands" of wood. This enormous building, one of the greatest 
in the world, was an oval arena surrounded by rising tiers of seats, accommo- 
dating nearly fifty thousand people. We see here only the outside wall, as 
restored. It was built by the emperors Vespasian and Titus (§ 411) and was 
completed a. d. 80. Every Roman town of any size had such an arena. The 
one at Pola, in Dalmatia, a town of forty thousand people, still stands, and 
could seat about twenty thousand spectators. A fine one still stands in 
Verona, Italy. In these places the emperors threw thousands of barbarian 

prisoners to the wild beasts 

The domed roof of Hadrian's Pantheon is a single enormous con- 
crete cast, over a hundred and forty feet across. The Romans, 
therefore, eighteen hundred years ago were employing concrete 
on a scale which we have only recently learned to imitate, and after 
all this lapse of time the roof of the Pantheon seems to be as safe 



1 See Ancient Times, Fig. 247. 



The Second Century of Peace 



267 



and stanch as it was when Hadrian's architects first knocked away 
the posts which supported the wooden form for the great cast.^ 

412. Roman Sculpture and Painting. In the relief sculpture 
adorning all these monuments Roman art is at its best. The 
reliefs still covering Trajan's column are a wonderful picture book 
of his campaigns (§397). Of 

statue sculpture, however, the 
vast majority of the works pro- 
duced in this period were copies 
of the masterpieces of the great 
Greek sculptors. However, por- 
trait sculptors produced busts of 
the leading Romans which are 
among the finest of such works 
ever wrought (Fig. 72). 

In painting, the wall decorat- 
ors were almost the only surviv- 
ing practicers of the art. They 
merely copied the works of the 
great Greek masters of the Hel- 
lenistic Age. Portrait painting, 
however, flourished, and the 
hack portrait artist at the street 
corner, who painted your picture 
quickly for you on a tablet of 
wood, was almost as common as 
our own portrait photographer.- 

413. Decline of Literature ; 
Plutarch's Lives. There was 
now a larger educated public at Rome than ever before, and the 
splendid libraries maintained by the State were open to all. 
Authors and literary men were also liberally supported by the 
emperors. Nevertheless, even under these favorable circumstances 




Fig. 72. Portrait of an 
Unknown Roman 

This terra-cotta head is one of the 
finest portraits ever made (§ 412) 
It represents one of the masterful 
Roman lords of the world, and 
shows clearly in the features those 
qualities of power and leadership 
which so long maintained Roman 
supremacy 



1 See Ancient Times, Fig. 264. 

2 See examples of Roman sculpture and painting in Ancient Times, Figs. 197, 251, 
and plate, p. 654, and read footnote, ibid. p. 631. 



2 68 History of Europe 

not a single genius of great creative imagination arose. Just as 
in sculpture and painting, so now in literature, the leaders were 
content to imitate or copy the great works of the past. Real 
progress in literature therefore ceased. But in this age of Latin 
literature at least one immortal work was written by a Greek — 
Plutarch's remarkable series of lives of the greatest men of Greece 
and Rome. The book forms an imperishable gallery of heroes, 
which has held the interest and the admiration of the world for 
eighteen centuries. 

414. Lack of Scientific Attainments at Rome. In science 
the Romans were always merely collectors of the knowledge gained 
by the Greeks. During a long and successful official career Pliny 
devoted himself with great industry to scientific studies. He 
made a vast collection of the facts then known in science and 
found in books, chiefly Greek. He put them all together in a 
huge work which he called Natural History — really an en- 
cyclopedia. He was so deeply interested in science that he lost his 
life in the great eruption of Vesuvius, as he was trying both to 
study the tremendous event at short range and (as admiral of the 
fleet) to save the fleeing people of Pompeii (§ 404). But Pliny's 
Natural History did not contain any new facts of importance 
discovered by the author himself, and it was marred by many 
errors in matters which Pliny misunderstood. Nevertheless, for 
hundreds of years, until the revival of science in modern times, 
Pliny's work was, next to Aristotle, the standard authority referred 
to by all educated Europeans. Thus men fell into an indolent 
attitude of mind and were satisfied merely to learn what earlier 
discoverers had found out. This attitude never would have led to 
the discovery of the size of the earth as determined by Eratosthenes 
(§ 281) or in modern times to X-ray photographs or wireless 
telegraphy. 

415. End of Investigative Science at Alexandria. A great 
astronomer and geographer of Alexandria, named Ptolemy, who 
flourished under Hadrian and the Antonines, was the last of the 
famous scientists of the ancient world. He wrote among other 
works a handbook on astronomy, mostly taken from the works 



The Second Century of Peace 269 

of earlier astronomers. In it he unfortunately adopted the con- 
clusion that the sun revolved around the earth as a center. His 
book became a standard work, and hence this mistaken view of 
the solar system, called the Ptolemaic system, was everywhere 
accepted by the later world. It was not until four hundred years 
ago that the real truth, already long before discovered by the 
Greek astronomer Aristarchus of Samos (§ 281), was rediscovered 
by the Polish astronomer Copernicus.^ 

416. Cosmopolitan Life of Rome. Educated Greeks at Rome 
were now holding important positions in the government or 
as teachers and professors paid by the government. The 
city was no longer Roman or Italian ; it had become Mediter- 
ranean. Men of all the world elbowed each other and talked 
business in the banks and countinghouses of the magnificent new 
forums ; they filled the public offices and administrative depart- 
ments of the government, and discussed the hand-copied daily 
paper published by the State ; they sat in the libraries and lecture 
halls of the Roman university, and they crowded the lounging 
places of the public baths and the vast amphitheater. We call 
such all-inclusive, widely representative life "cosmopolitan" — 
a word of Greek origin meaning " world-cityish." 

This inflow of all the world at Rome was evident in the luxuries 
now enjoyed by the rich. Roman ladies were decked with dia- 
monds, pearls, and rubies from India, and they robed themselves 
in shining silks from China. The tables of the rich were bright 
with peaches, which they called '' Persian apples," and with 
apricots, both now appearing for the first time in the Roman 
world. Roman cooks learned to prepare rice, formerly an orien- 
tal delicacy prescribed for the sick. Instead of sweetening their 
dishes with honey as formerly, Roman households began to find 
a new product in the market place known as "sakari"; for so 
the report of a venturesome oriental sailor of the first century 
of our era calls the sirup of sugar cane, which he brought by sea 

1 Knowledge of the spherical form of the earth as shown by Ptolemy and earlier Greek 
astronomers was never lost. It was passed down to the travelers and navigators of later 
Europe and finally led Columbus to undertake the voyage to India and the East wcsi- 
uuird — the voyage which resulted in the discovery of America. 



2 70 History of Europe 

from India into the Mediterranean for the first time. This is 
the earliest mention of sugar in history. These new things from 
the Orient were beginning to appear in Roman life just as the 
potatoes, tobacco, and Indian corn of America found their way 
into Europe after the voyages of Columbus had disclosed a new 
Western world. 

IV. Popularity of Oriental Religions and the 
Spread of Early Christianity 

417. Decline of Intellectual Life and Roman Religion. 
The life of the Orient was at the same time continuing to bring 
into the Mediterranean other things less easily traced than rice 
or sugar, but much more important in their influence on the 
Roman world. These were the oriental religions. The intellectual 
life of the Empire was steadily declining, as we have seen in- 
dicated by literature and science. Thoughtful Romans read the 
Greek philosophy of the Stoics and Epicureans (§286) in the 
charming treatises of Cicero (§386). Such readers had given up 
the old Roman gods and accepted as their religion the precepts 
of daily conduct which they found in the Stoic or Epicurean phi- 
losophy. But such teaching was only for the highly educated and 
the intellectual class. 

418. Oriental Religions in Europe. Multitudes, including 
even the educated, yielded to the fascination of the mysterious 
religions coming in from the East. IMany took refuge in the faith 
of the Egyptian Isis, and temples of Isis were to be found in 
all the larger cities. To-day tiny statuettes and other symbols of 
the Egyptian goddess are found even along the Seine, the Rhine, 
and the Danube. 

In the army the Persian Mithras, a god of light (§ 94), was 
a great favorite, and many a Roman legion had its underground 
chapel where its members celebrated his triumph over darkness 
and evil. These and other oriental faiths all had their "myster- 
ies," consisting chiefly of dramatic presentations of the career of 
the god, especially his submission to death, his triumph over it, 



The Second Century of Peace 271 

and his ascent to everlasting life (§53). It was believed that 
to witness these things and to undergo certain holy ceremonies 
of initiation would enable one to share in the pure and endless 
life of the god and to dwell with him forever. 

The old Roman faith had little to do with conduct and held out 
to the worshiper no such hopes of future blessedness. Little 
wonder that the multitudes were irresistibly attracted by the com- 
forting promises of these oriental faiths and the blessed future to 
be gained in their "mysteries." 

The Jews, too, since their temple in Jerusalem had been de- 
stroyed by the Romans, were to be found in increasing numbers 
in all the larger cities. Strabo, the geographer, said of them, 
"This people has already made its way into every city, and it 
would be hard to find a place in the habitable world which has 
not admitted this race and been dominated by it." The Roman 
world was becoming accustomed to their synagogues ; but the 
Jews refused to acknowledge any god besides their own, and this 
brought them disfavor and trouble with the government. 

419. Rise of Christianity. Among all these faiths of the 
Orient the common people were more and more inclining toward 
one whose teachers told how their Master, Jesus, a Hebrew, was 
born in Palestine, the land of the Jews, in the days of Augustus. 
Everywhere they told the people of his vision of human brother- 
hood and of divine fatherhood. This faith he had preached for 
a few years, till he incurred the hatred of his countrymen, and 
in the reign of Tiberius they had put him to death. 

A Jewish tentmaker of Tarsus named Paul, a man of passionate 
eloquence and unquenchable love for his Master, passed far and 
wide through the cities of Asia Minor and Greece, and even to 
Rome, proclaiming his Master's teaching. He left behind him 
a line of devoted communities stretching from Palestine to Rome. 
Certain letters which he wrote in Greek to his followers were 
circulating widely among them and were read with eagerness. At 
the same time a narrative of the Master's life had also appeared 
and was now widely read by the common people. There were 
finally four leading biographies of Jesus in Greek, which came to 



272 History of Europe 

be regarded as authoritative, and these we call the Four Gospels. 
Along with the letters of Paul and some other writings they were 
later put together in a Greek book now known in the English 
translation as the New Testament. 

420. Superiority of Christianity. The other oriental faiths, 
in spite of their attractiveness, could not offer to their followers 
the consolation and fellowship of a life so exalted and beautiful, 
so full of brotherly appeal and human sympathy as that of the 
new Hebrew Teacher. The slave and the freedman, the artisan 
and the craftsman, the humble and the despised in the huge 
barracks which sheltered the poor in Rome, eagerly listened to 
this new "mystery" from the East, as they thought it to be. 
As time passed, multitudes learned of the new gospel and found 
joy in the hopes which it awakened. In the second century of 
peace Christianity was rapidly outstripping the other religions 
of the Roman Empire. 

421. Roman Persecution of the Early Christians. The gov- 
ernment officials often found these early converts, like the Jews, 
not only refusing to sacrifice to the emperor as a god, as all good 
Roman citizens were expected to do, but also openly prophesying 
the downfall of the Roman State. While the Roman government 
was usually very tolerant in matters of religion, the early Chris- 
tians were therefore frequently called upon to endure cruel perse- 
cution. Their religion seemed to interfere with good citizenship, 
since it forbade them to show the usual respect for the emperor 
and the government. Nevertheless their numbers steadily grew. 

V. Marcus Aurelius and the End of the 
Second Century of Peace 

422. End of the Second Century of Peace (about a.d. 167). 
In spite of outward prosperity, Mediterranean civilization was 
declining in the second century of peace. This became noticeable 
in the reign of Hadrian. Then the noble Emperor IVIarcus Aurelius 
(a.d. 1 61-180) was called upon to face a very serious situation. 
His ability and enlightened statesmanship are undoubted. Indeed, 




The Second Century of Peace 273 

they were only equaled by the purity and beauty of his personal 
life. Amid the growing anxieties of his position, even as he sat 
in his tent and guided the operations of the legions in the forests 
of what is now Bohemia, he found time to record his thoughts and 
leave to the world a little volume of meditations written in Greek, 
which many people still read with great pleasure and profit. 

After his army had been seriously reduced in numbers by a 
four years' war with the Parthians and by a terrible plague, the 
barbarian hordes in the German North broke through the frontier 
defenses (Fig. 67), and for the first time in two centuries they 
poured down into Italy (a.d. 167). The two centuries of peace 
were ended. With little intermission, until his death (a.d. 180), 
Marcus Aurelius maintained the struggle against the Germans 
in the region of modern Bohemia. In spite of victory over the 
barbarians, he was unable to sweep them entirely out of the 
northern regions of the Empire. He finally took the very dan- 
gerous step of alloAving some of them, in return for military 
service, to remain permanently as farmer colonists on lands 
assigned to them inside of the frontier. This policy, as we shall 
see, resulted in very serious consequences to the Empire. 

423. Summary of the Two Centuries of Peace. The re- 
markable forty-four years of the peaceful reign of Augustus had 
ushered in a century of peace which was completed by the four 
succeeding reigns of the Julian line, ending (a.d. 68) with the 
death of the infamous Nero. The second century of peace which 
began soon afterward was made up for the most part by the reigns 
of a group of very able emperors, especially Trajan and Hadrian. 
These men expanded the once local government and laws of the 
former city-state of Rome until they fitted the needs of a vast 
state including the whole Mediterranean world. At this time 
Christianity was spreading very rapidly. Internal decay was 
going on, however, and under Marcus Aurelius, about a.d. 167, 
the two centuries of peace ended. We now pass on, therefore, to 
a fearful century of revolution, civil war, and anarchy, from 
which a very different Roman world emerged. 



2 74 



History of Europe 



QUESTIONS 

I. What two great tasks were to be accomplished by the emperors 
of the second century of peace ? Discuss the wars of Trajan. What 
did Hadrian do for the defenses ? Describe the army. Tell about im- 
portant developments in the internal organization of the Empire ; 
in its laws ; in the emperor's attention to the provinces. 

IL Indicate the extent and mention the chief peoples of the Roman 
Empire. Tell the story of Pompeii. Describe the communications 
and commerce of the eastern Mediterranean ; the life of the provincial 
towns, especially education. What was the language of the West ? 
Describe its surviving monuments. What do the Roman buildings 
still show regarding the position and the extent of the Roman Empire ? 

III. Tell about the buildings of the emperors at Rome ; sculpture 
and painting ; literature and science ; the cosmopolitan life of Rome ; 
its oriental luxuries. 

IV. What was the state of religion in the Empire ? What was the 
situation of the oriental rehgions among the Romans ? Mention the 
leading ones and give an account of them, especially Christianity. 
How did its sacred book arise ? What danger threatened the early 
Christians ? 

V. What was the state of civilization in the second century of 
■peace? What brought this period to an end? Under whom? What 

dangerous step did he take ? Describe his character and writings. 
What followed the two centuries of peace ? 

Note. This tailpiece shows the model of a part of the ruins of a former fashionable 
Roman watering place at Bath, England. 




CHAPTER XIX 

A CENTURY OF REVOLUTION AND THE DIVISION 
OF THE EMPIRE 

I. Internal Decline of the Roman Empire 

424. Signs of Inner Decay. We have seen good government, 
fine buildings, education, and other evidences of civiHzation more 
widespread in the second century gf peace than ever before. 
Nevertheless, the great Empire which we have been studying was 
suffering from an inner decay. In the first place, the decline of 
farming, so noticeable before the fall of the Republic (§§351 ff.), 
had gone steadily on. This was partly due to the exhaustion of 
the soil and bad cultivation. 

425. Decline of Farming and Agriculture. Land continued 
to pass over into the hands of the rich and powerful. A rich man's 
estate was called a villa, and the system of villa estates, having 
destroyed the small farmers of Italy (§§ 349-352), was now 
destroying them in the provinces likewise. Villas now covered 
not only Italy but also Africa, Gaul, Britain, Spain, and other 
leading provinces. 

Unable to compete with the great villas, and finding the burden 
of taxes unbearable, most of the small farmers gave up the 
struggle. Such a farmer would often become the colonus of some 
wealthy villa owner. By this arrangement the farmer and his 
descendants were forever bound by law to the land which they 
worked, and they passed with it from owner to owner .when it 
changed hands. While not actually slaves, they were not free 
to leave or go where they pleased. The great villas once worked 
by slaves were now cultivated chiefly by these coloni (plural of 
colonus), the forerunners of the medieval serfs (§ 525), while 

slaves had steadily diminished in numbers. 

275 



276 History of Europe 

Multitudes of the country people, unwilling to become coloni, 
forsook their fields and turned to the city for relief. Great 
stretches of unworked and weed-grown fields were no uncommon 
sight. As the amount of land under cultivation decreased, the 
ancient world was no longer raising enough food to feed itself 
properly. The scarcity was felt most severely in the great centers 
of population like Rome, where prices had rapidly gone up. Our 
own generation is not the first to complain of the "high cost 
of living." The destruction of the small farmers formed the 
leading cause among a whole group of causes which brought 
about the decline and fall of this great Empire. 

426. Decline of Population and Citizenship. The large fam- 
ilies which country life favors were no longer reared, the number 
of marriages decreased, and the population of the Empire shrank. 
Debased by the life of the city, the once sturdy farmer lost his 
independence in an eager scramble for a place in the waiting line 
of city poor, to whom the government distributed free grain, wine, 
and meat. The city became a great hive of shiftless population 
supported by the State with money gained from taxes resting 
chiefly on the lessening number of struggling agriculturists. The 
same situation was in the main to be found in all the leading cities. 

In spite of outward splendor, therefore, the cities too were 
declining. They had now learned to depend upon the emperors 
to care for them even in their own local affairs (§ 402). Respon- 
sible and actively interested citizenship, which does so much to 
develop the best among the people of any community and which 
had earlier so sadly declined in Greece, was passing away, never 
to reappear in the ancient world. 

427. Decline of Business. At the same time the business life 
of the cities was also deteriorating. The country communities no 
longer possessed a numerous purchasing population. Hence the 
city manufacturers could no longer dispose of their products in 
the country. They rapidly declined, and discharged their work- 
men, who began to increase the multitudes of the city poor. 

For a number of reasons the government was unable to secure 
enough precious metals to coin the money necessary for the 



A 



A Century of Revolution 277 

transaction of business. The emperors were obliged to begin 
mixing with their silver an increasing amount of less valuable 
metals and coining this cheaper alloy. A denarius, the common 
small coin worth when pure nearly twenty cents (Fig. 56), a 
century after the death of Marcus Aurelius was worth only 
half a cent. 

428. Decline of the Army. It was impossible to maintain a 
paid army without money. As it became quite impossible to 
collect taxes in money, the government was obliged to accept grain 
and produce as payment of taxes. Here and there the army was 
then paid in grain. On the frontiers, for lack of other pay, the 
troops were assigned lands, which of course did them no good 
unless they could cultivate them. So they were allowed to marry 
and to live with their families in little huts on their lands near 

^ the frontier. As was to be expected they soon lost all discipline 
and became merely a feeble militia. 

■ 429. Demoralization caused by Lack of a Law of Succession. 
This degeneration of the army was much hastened by a serious 
imperfection in the organization of the Roman State, left there 
by Augustus. This was the lack of a legal and long-respected 
method of choosing a new emperor and thus maintaining from 
reign to reign without a break the supreme authority in the 
Roman State. The troops found that they could make a new 
emperor whenever the old emperor's death gave them an oppor- 
tunity. For an emperor so made they had very little respect, 
and if he attempted to enforce discipline or did not heed their 
wishes, they put him out of the way and selected another. Rude 
and barbarous mercenary soldiers, few of whom were citizens, thus 
became the highest authority in the State. 

Finally, the spread of civilization to the provinces had resulted 
in the feeling that they were the equals of Rome and Italy 
itself. When (a.d. 212) citizenship was granted to all free men 
within the Empire, the provincials gained more and more oppor- 
tunity to compete for the leadership of the Empire. 



278 History of Europe 

II. A Century of Revolution 

430. Beginning of a Century of Revolution (a.d. 180). These 
forces of decline were swiftly bringing on a century of revolution 
which was to shipwreck the civilization of the early world. This 
fatal period began with the death of Marcus Aurelius (a.d. 180), 
The assassination of his unworthy son Commodus, who reminds us 
of Nero, was the opportunity for a struggle among a group of 
military usurpers. From this struggle a rough but successful sol- 
dier named Septimius Severus emerged triumphant. He system- 
atically filled the highest posts in the government with military 
leaders of low origin. Thus, both in the army and in the govern- 
ment, the ignorant and often foreign masses were gaining control. 

When the line of Severus ended (a.d. 235), the storm broke. 
The barbaric troops in one province after another set up their 
puppet emperors to fight among themselves for the throne of 
the Mediterranean world. The proclamation of a new emperor 
would be followed again and again by news of his assassination. 
From the leaders of the barbaric soldier class, after the death of 
Commodus, the Roman Empire received eighty rulers in ninety 
years. Most of these so-called emperors were not unlike the revo- 
lutionary bandits who proclaim themselves presidents of Mexico. 

431. Fifty Years of Anarchy ; Collapse of Higher Civili- 
zation. For fifty years there was no public order, as the plunder- 
ing troops tossed the scepter of Rome from one soldier emperor 
to another. Life and property were nowhere safe ; robbery and 
murder were everywhere. The disorder and fighting between rival 
emperors hastened the ruin of all business, till national bankruptcy 
ensued. In this tempest of anarchy during the third century of 
our era the civilization of the ancient world fell into final ruin. 
The leadership of mind and of scientific knowledge won by the 
Greeks in the third century b.c. (§281) yielded to the reign of 
ignorance and superstition in these disasters of the third century 
of the Christian Era. 

Such turmoil sadly weakened the Roman army. The Northern 
barbarians were quick to perceive the helplessness of the Empire. 



A Century of Revolution 279 

They crossed the frontiers almost at will and penetrated far into 
Greece and Italy ; in the West they overran Gaul and Spain, and 
some of them even crossed to Africa. 

432. Rise of New Persia (a.d. 226) under Sassanian Kings. 
At the same time a new danger had arisen in the East. A renewal 
of patriotism among the old Persian population, coupled with a 
religious revival, had resulted in a vigorous restoration of their 
national life. Their leaders, a family called Sassanians (or 
Sassanids), overthrew the Parthians (a.d. 226) and furnished 
a new line of enlightened Persian kings. As they took possession 
of the Fertile Crescent and established their capital at Ctesiphon 
on the Tigris, close by Babylon, a new Orient arose on the ruins 
of seemingly dead and forgotten ages. The Sassanian kings 
organized a much more powerful State than that of the Parthians 
which they overthrew, and they regarded themselves as the rivals 
of the Romans for the Empire of the world. The old rivalry 
between the Orient and the West, as in the days of Greece and 
Persia, was now continued, with Rome as the champion of the 
West, and this New Persia as the leader of the East. 

433. Aurelian (a.d. 270-275) and Diocletian (a.d. 284-305) re- 
store Order. It now looked as if the Roman Empire were about 
to fall to pieces, when one of the soldier emperors, named Aurelian, 
defeated all his rivals and restored some measure of order and 
safety. But, in order to protect Rome from the future raids of 
the barbarians, he built entirely around the great city the massive 
wall (see plan, p. 248) which still stands, — a confession of the 
dangerous situation and terrible decline of Rome in the third 
century of our era. It was a little over a century after the death 
of Marcus Aurelius when the emperor Diocletian restored what 
looked like a lasting peace (a.d. 284). 

434. Summary of Four Centuries of Roman Imperialism. 
If at this point we look back some four hundred years over the 

.^-^istorjTorRoine^ince she had become mistress of the world, we 
discern three great periods. With the foundation of the Empire 
by Augustus there began two centuries of peace, and this period of 
peace was both preceded and followed by a century of revolution. 



28o History of Europe 

We have thus seen a century of revolution, which destroyed 
the RepubHc and introduced the Empire ; two centuries of peace 
under the Empire ; and then a second century of revolution which 
almost destroyed and completely altered the Empire. The first 
century of revolution led from the Gracchus brothers to the 
triumph of one-man power and the foundation of the Empire by 
Augustus (that is, from about 133 to 30 B.C.). The two cen- 
turies of peace beginning with the foundation of the Empire by 
Augustus continued down to the barbarian invasion in the reign of 
Marcus Aurelius (that is, from about 30 B.C. to nearly a.d. 170). 
The second century of revolution led from the enlightened reign of 
Marcus Aurelius to oriental despotism under Diocletian (that is, 
from about a.d. 180 to about 284). Thus four centuries of Roman 
imperialism, after bringing forth such masterful men as Sulla and 
Julius Caesar, had passed through various stages of one-man 
power, to end in despotism. We are now first to examine that 
despotism and then to see how it was overwhelmed by two cen- 
turies of barbarian invasions from the North, while at the same 
time it was also crushed by the reviving power of the Orient, 
whose assaults were to last many centuries more (see map, p. 260). 

III. The Roman Empire an Oriental Despotism 

435. Diocletian ; the Roman Empire an Oriental Despotism 
(a.d. 284-305). The Roman world under Diocletian was a totally 
different one from that which Augustus and the Roman Senate 
had ruled three centuries before. Diocletian deprived the shadowy 
Senate of all power except that of governing the city of Rome. 
Reduced to a mere City Council, or Board of Aldermen, it then 
disappeared from the stage of history. The emperor thus became 
an absolute monarch with none to limit his authority. With the 
unlimited power of the oriental despot the emperor now assumed 
also its outward symbols, — the diadem, the gorgeous robe em- 
broidered with pearls and precious stones, the throne and foot- 
stool, before which all who came into his presence must bow down 
to the dust. 



A Century of Revolution 281 

Long regarded as a divinity, the emperor had now become an 
oriental Sun-god, and he was officially called the " Invincible Sun." 
His birthday was on the twenty-fifth of December. All were 
obliged as good citizens to join in the official sacrifices to the head 
of the State as a god. With the incoming of this oriental attitude 
toward the emperor, the long struggle for democracy, which we 
have followed through so many centuries of the history of early 
man, ended for a time in the triumph of oriental despotism. 

436. Division of the Empire by Diocletian ; his Admin- 
istration. War with New Persia, the new oriental enemy, carried 
the emperor much to the East. The result was that Diocletian 
resided most of the time at Nicomedia in Asia Minor (see map, II, 
p. 260). As a natural consequence he was unable to give close 
attention to the West. Following some earlier examples, Diocletian 
therefore appointed another emperor to rule jointly with himself, 
to give his attention to the West. It was not Diocletian's inten- 
tion to divide the Roman Empire, any more than it had been 
the purpose to divide the Republic in electing two consuls. The 
final result was, nevertheless, the drifting apart of the Roman 
Empire into East and West. 

The provinces of the Empire were by this time over a hun- 
dred in number. Diocletian and his successors organized the 
business of each province in the hands of a great number of local 
officials graded into many successive ranks and classes from high 
to low. The financial burden of this vast organization, together 
with the luxurious oriental court of the emperor, was enormous ; 
for this multitude of government and court officials and the 
clamorous army had all to be paid and supported by ever- 
increasing taxation. 

437. Loss of Business Men ; Obligatory Practice of Occupa- 
tions. When the scarcity of coin (§ 427) forced the government 
to accept grain and produce from the taxpayers, taxes had become 
a mere share in the yield of the lands. The Roman Empire thus 
sank to a primitive system of taxation already thousands of years 
old in the Orient. It was now customary to oblige a group of 
wealthy men in each city, mainly the members of the local city 



2 82 History of Europe 

councils and their families, to become responsible for the payment 
of the entire taxes of the district each year, and if there was a 
deficit these men were forced to make up the lacking balance out 
of their own wealth. The penalty of wealth seemed to be ruin, and 
there was no motive for success in business when such prosperity 
meant ruinous overtaxation. As the Roman Empire had already 
lost its prosperous farming class, it now lost likewise its enter- 
prising and successful business men. Diocletian therefore, chiefly 
in the interest of taxation, endeavored to force these classes to 
continue their occupations. He forbade any man to leave his lands 
or occupation and even tried to make craftsmanship hereditary by 
demanding that the sons follow the occupation of their father. 

438. Disappearance of Liberty and Free Citizenship. Thus 
under this oriental despotism the liberty for which men had 
striven so long disappeared in Europe, and the once free Roman 
citizen had no independent life of his own. Even the citizen's 
wages and the prices of the goods he bought or sold were as far as 
possible fixed for him by the State. The emperor's innumerable 
officials, among them a regular organization of government agents 
who were little better than spies, kept an eye upon even the 
humblest citizen. They watched the grain dealers, butchers, 
and bakers, and saw to it that they properly supplied the public 
and never deserted their occupation. Even entrance into the 
clergy (§441) was closely supervised by the State, because every 
man becoming a priest or monk meant the loss of so much in 
taxes (§442). In a word, the Roman government now attempted 
to regulate almost every interest in life, and wherever the citizen 
turned he felt the irksome interference and oppression of the State. 

Staggering under his burden of taxes, in a State which was prac- 
tically bankrupt, the citizen now seemed like a mere cog in the 
vast machinery of the government. His whole life consisted of toil 
for the State, which always collected so much in taxes that he was 
fortunate if he could survive on what was left. As a mere toiler 
for the State he was finally just where the peasant on the Nile 
had been for thousands of years. The emperor had become a 
Pharaoh, and the Roman Empire a colossal Egypt of ancient days. 



A Century of Revolution 283 

IV. The Division of the Empire and the Triumph 

OF Christianity 

439. Constantine (a.d. 324-337) and the Shift of Power from 
Italy to the Balkan Peninsula. Under Diocletian, Italy had been 
reduced to the position of a taxed province and had thus lost the 
last vestige of superiority over the other provinces of the Empire. 
During the century of revolution just past, the soldiers of the 
Balkan Peninsula had filled the army with the best troops and 
furnished more than one emperor, among them Diocletian. An 
emperor who had risen from the ranks of provincial troops in 
the Balkans felt little attachment -to Rome. Rome had not only 
ceased to be the residence of an emperor, but the center of power 
had clearly shifted from Italy to the Balkan Peninsula. 

Out of the struggles following Diocletian's death the Emperor 
Constantine the Great emerged victorious (a.d. 324). He did not 
hesitate to turn to the eastern edge of the Balkan Peninsula and 
establish there a New Rome as his residence. He chose the 
ancient Greek town of Byzantium, on the European side of the 
Bosporus, a magnificent situation overlooking both Europe and 
Asia and fitted to be a center of power in both. In placing his 
new capital here, Constantine established a city, the importance 
of which was equaled only by the foundation of Alexandria in 
Egypt. The emperor stripped many an ancient city of its great 
monuments in order to secure materials for the beautification of 
his splendid residence (Fig. 73). By a.d. 330 the new capital 
on the Bosporus was a magnificent monumental city, worthy to 
be the successor of Rome as the seat of the Mediterranean Empire. 
It was named Constantinople ("Constan tine's city") after its 
founder. 

440. The Separation of East and West. The transfer of the 
capital of the Roman Empire to the east side of the Balkan 
Peninsula meant the separation of East and West — the cutting 
of the Roman Empire in two. Although the separation did not 
take place abruptly, yet within a generation after Constantinople 
was founded, the Roman Empire had in fact if not in name 



284 



History of Europe 



become two states. The theory and ideal of unity persisted but 
was never more than temporarily realized hereafter. 

441. The Churches a New Arena for the Rise of Able Men. 
Meantime the Christian churches had steadily increased in num- 
bers. The management of the great Christian communities and 




Fig. 73. Ancient Monuments in Constantinople 

The obelisk in the foreground (nearly one hundred feet high) was first set 
up in Thebes, Egypt, by the conqueror Thutmose III (§49); it was erected 
here by the Roman Emperor Theodosius. The small spiral column at the 
right is the base of a bronze tripod set up by the Greeks at Delphi (Fig. 38) 
in commemoration of their victory over the Persians at Plataea (§ 192). 
The names of thirty-one Gi^ek cities which took part in the battle are still 
to be read, engraved on this base. These monuments of ancient oriental 
and Greek supremacy stand in what was the Roman horse-race course when 
the earlier Greek city of Byzantium became the eastern capital of Rome 
(§ 439)- Finally, the great mosque behind the obelisk, with its slender 
minarets, represents the triumph of Islam under the Turks, who took the 

city A.I). 1453 

their churches called for increasing ability and experience. Public 
discussion and disputes in the Church meetings enabled gifted 
men to stand forth, and their ability brought them position and 
influence. The Christian Church thus became a new arena for 



A Century of Revolution 285 

the development of statesmanship, and Church statesmen were 
soon to be the leading influential men of the age, when the city 
democracies had long since ceased to produce such men. 

These officers of the Church came to be distinguished from the 
other members and were called the clergy, while the people who 
made up the membership of the churches were called the laymen, 
or the laity. The old men who cared for the smaller country 
congregations were finally called merely presbyters, a Greek word 
meaning "old men," and our word "priest" is derived from this 
Greek term. Over the group of churches in each city a leading 
priest gained authority as bishop. In the larger cities these bishops 
had such influence that they became archbishops, or head bishops, 
having authority over the bishops in the surrounding cities of 
the province. Thus Christianity, once the faith of the weak and 
the despised, became a powerful organization, strong enough to 
cope with the government. 

442. Christianity placed on a Legal Basis with Other Reli- 
gions (a.d. 311). The Roman government therefore began to see 
the uselessness of persecuting the Christians. In the time of Dio- 
cletian his associate Galerius, feeling the dangers threatening 
Rome from without and the uselessness of the struggle against the 
Christians within, issued a decree (a.d. 311) by which Chris- 
tianity was legally recognized in his territories. Its followers re- 
ceived the same legal position as the worshipers of the old gods. 
This decree was later maintained by Constantine for the whole 
Empire. Constantine and succeeding emperors went even further 
in their favor toward the Christians. They gradually abolished 
all other religions, they helped maintain the Christian Church, they 
granted its officials many striking privileges, such as freedom from 
taxation and the right of having their own law and courts. 

443. Summary of the Age of Diocletian ; the Eclipse of 
the City of Rome. The century of revolution which ended in 
the despotic government set up by Diocletian completely de- 
stroyed the creative ability of ancient men in art and literature, as 
it likewise stopped all progress in business and affairs. In so far 
as the ancient world was one of progress in civilization, its history 



2 86 ■ History of Europe 

was ended with the accession of Diocletian. Besides the increas- 
ing invasions of the barbarians, the other outstanding events of 
the age were the foundation of an eastern capital, the resulting 
eclipse and increasing weakness of the city of Rome, and the 
triumph of Christianity. As the barbarians came in and the power 
of the Roman Empire waned, it had still a great mission before it 
in the preservation of at least something of the heritage of civili- 
zation, which it was to hand down through centuries of strife and 
trouble to us of to-day. 

V. Retrospect 

444. Summary of Ancient History. Besides the internal de- 
cay of Rome and the triumph of the Christian Church, the other 
great outstanding feature of the last centuries of the Roman 
Empire was the incoming of the barbarians, with the result that 
while Mediterranean civilization steadily declined, it nevertheless 
slowly spread northward, especially under the influence of the 
Church, till it transformed the ruder life of the North. At this 
point then we have returned to the region of western arid northern 
Europe, where we first took up the career of man, and there, among 
the crumbling monuments of the Stone Age, Christian churches 
were soon to rise. What a vast sweep of the human career rises 
before our imagination as we picture the first church towers among 
the massive tombs of Stone Age man ! 

445. The Long Struggle of Civilization and Barbarism. 
We have watched the men of Europe struggling upward through 
thousands of years of Stone Age barbarism, while toward the end 
of that struggle civilization was arising in the Orient. Then on 
the borders of the Orient we saw the Stone Age Europeans of the 
i^gean receiving civilization from the Nile and thus developing a 
wonderful civilized world of their own. This remarkable ^gean 
civilization, the earliest in Europe, was overwhelmed and de- 
stroyed by the incoming of those Indo-European barbarians whom 
we call the Greeks. Writing, art, architecture, and shipbuilding, 
which had arisen on the borders of southeastern Europe, passed 
away, and civilization in Europe perished at the hands of the 



A Century of Revolution 287 

Greek nomads from the Danube. Civilization would have been 
lost entirely had not the Orient, where it was born, now preserved 
it. Southeastern Europe, controlled by the Greeks, was therefore 
able to make another start, and from the Orient it again received 
writing, art, architecture, shipbuilding, and many other things 
which make up civilization. After having thus halted civilization 
in Europe for over a thousand years, the Greeks left behind their 
early barbarism, and, developing a noble and beautiful culture 
of their own, they carried civilization to the highest level it ever 
attained. Then, as the Indo-European barbarians (this time the 
Germans) again descended to the Mediterranean, Roman organi- 
zation, as we shall see, prevented civilization from being destroyed 
for the second time. Thus enough of the civilization which the 
Orient and the Greeks had built up was preserved so that after 
long delay it rose again in Europe to become what we find it 
to-day. Such has been the long struggle of civilization and bar- 
barism which we have been following. In the remaining chapters 
of this book we are to learn how Christian civilization triumphed 
and barbarism disappeared from Europe. 

446. The Trail which we have Followed. To-day, marking 
the various stages of the long career of ancient man, which we 
have been following, the stone fist-hatchets lie deep in the river 
gravels of France ; the furniture of the pile-villages sleeps at the 
bottom of the Swiss lakes ; the majestic pyramids and temples 
announcing the dawn of civilization rise along the Nile ; the 
silent and deserted city-mounds by the Tigris and Euphrates 
shelter their myriads of clay tablets ; the palaces of Crete look 
out toward the sea they once ruled ; the noble temples and sculp- 
tures of Greece still proclaim the new world of beauty and free- 
dom first revealed by the Greeks ; the splendid Roman roads and 
aqueducts assert the supremacy and organized control of Rome ; 
and the Christian churches proclaim the new ideal of human 
brotherhood. These things still reveal the trail along which our 
ancestors came, and in following that fascinating trail we have 
recovered the earliest chapters in the wonderful human story 
which we call Ancient History. 



288 



History of Europe 



• QUESTIONS 

I. What had become of the small farmers in the Roman Empire ? 
What system had resulted ? What was happening to the cultivated 
lands ? What was the effect on the food supply ? on the great cities ? 
on citizenship ? on business ? What happened to coined money ? What 
was the effect on the army ? What resulted ? 

II. What was the policy of Severus ? How may we contrast the 
third century of our era with the third century b. c. ? What did 
the Northern barbarians do ? What happened in the Orient ? What 
two men saved the Empire ? When ? Divide up into three great 
periods the first four centuries of Roman leadership of the Mediter- 
ranean world. To what had four centuries of Roman imperialism led ? 

III. What kind of State was organized by Diocletian ? Where did 
Diocletian chiefly reside ? What did he do with the West ? Tell of his 
administrative organization and taxation. What happened to successful 
business men ? How did Diocletian treat the various occupations ? 
What thus became of the citizen ? 

IV. How did the emperors now regard Rome ? What did Con- 
stantine do ? How did this affect the Empire ? Describe the develop- 
ment and organization of the Church. How did the Empire now treat 
the Church ? 

V. Where did mankind first gain civilization ? Where did civilization 
first arise in Europe ? What happened when the Greeks came in ? 
Where was civilization then preserved ? Who carried it to its highest 
level ? By whom was it almost destroyed for the second time ? What 
organization saved it for the second time ? 




BOOK V. THE MIDDLE AGES 

CHAPTER XX 

THE GERMAN INVASIONS AND THE BREAK-UP OF THE 

ROMAN EMPIRE 

I. Founding of Kingdoms by Barbarian Chiefs 

447. The Menace of the Barbarians. We must now describe 
the way in which the western portions of the Roman Empire were 
invaded by barbarous peoples from the North, who broke up the 
old Roman government and established in its stead kingdoms 
under their own rulers. These Germans, or " Barbarians " as the 
Romans called them, belonged to the same great group of peoples 
to which the Persians, Greeks, and Romans belonged — the Indo- 
European race (§§ 89-91). They were destined, as their relatives 
had earlier done, to take possession of the lands of others and 
help build up a different civilization from what they found. 

The peoples of northern Europe had not advanced much in 
civilization since the Late Stone Age ( §§ 9-1 1 ) . They were a con- 
stant menace to the highly civilized countries on the Mediterra- 
nean to the south of them. It will be recalled that the Germans 
created great terror in Rome when they first advanced to the 
south and were with difficulty defeated by the skill of Marius 

(§359)- 
During the century of revolution after the reign of Marcus 

Aurelius, the old organization of the Roman army had so weak- 
ened that the barbarians raided the lands of the Empire with 
little opposition. After these earlier raids the barbarians com- 
monly withdrew. By the time of Diocletian, however, the bar- 
barians were beginning to form permanent settlements within 
the limits of the Empire, and there followed two centuries of 

289 



290 History of Europe 

barbarian migration, in the course of which they finally^ took 
possession of the entire western Mediterranean world. 

448. The German Peoples at Home. The Germans were a 
fair-haired, blue-eyed race of men of towering stature and ter- 
rible strength, as it seemed to the Romans. In their native 
forests of the North each German tribe or nation occupied a 
very limited area, probably not over forty miles across. They 
lived in villages, each of about a hundred families, and there 
was a head man over e^ch village. Their homes were but 
slight huts, easily moved or replaced. They had little interest 
in farming the fields around the village, much -preferring their 
herds, and they shifted their homes often. They possessed no 
writing and very little in the way of industries, manufactures, 
or commerce. 

449. The German Peoples in Migration and War. Hard- 
ened to wind and weather in their raw Northern climate, their 
native fearlessness and love of war and plunder often led them 
to wander about, followed by their wives and families in heavy 
wagons. An entire people might comprise some fifty villages, but 
each village group remained together, protected by its body of 
about a hundred warriors, the heads of the village families. When 
combined, these hundreds made up an army of five to six thou- 
sand men. Each hundred held together in battle, as a fighting 
unit. They all knew each other ; the village head man, the leader 
of the group, had always lived with them ; the warrior in the 
tumult of battle saw all about him his friends and relatives, the 
sons of his brothers, the husbands of his daughters. In spite 
of lack of discipline, these fighting groups of a hundred men, 
united by ties of blood and daily association, formed battle 
units as terrible as any ever seen in the ancient world. Their 
eager joy in battle and the untamed fierceness of their onset made 
them irresistible. 

450. Whole German Peoples settle in the Empire and 
serve in the Army. The highly organized and carefully disci- 
plined Roman legions, which had gained for Rome the leadership 
of the world, were now no more. Indeed, the lack of men for the 



The German Invasions 291 

army had long since led the emperors to hire the Germans as 
soldiers. A more serious step was the admission of entire German 
peoples to live in the Empire with all their old customs. The 
men were then received into the Roman army, but they remained 
under their own German leaders and they fought in their old 
village units. For it was only as the Roman army was made up 
of the German fighting units that it had any effectiveness. Bar- 
barian life, customs, and manners were thus introduced into 
the Empire, and the Roman army as a*whole was barbarian. 

451. German Peoples gain Some Civilization. This constant 
commingling of the German peoples with the civilized com- 
rr.unities of the Empire was gradually softening their Northern 
wildness and giving them not only familiarity with civilization 
but also a respect for it. Their leaders, who held office under 
the Roman government, came to have friends among highborn 
Romans. German generals sometimes married educated Roman 
women of rank, even relatives of the emperors. Some of them 
too were converted to Christianity. An educated German named 
Ullilas translated the New Testament into Gothic, a dialect akin 
to German. As the Germanic peoples possessed no writing, he 
was obliged to devise an alphabet from Greek and Latin for 
writing Gothic. He thus produced the earliest surviving example 
of a written Germanic tongue and aided in converting the North- 
ern peoples to Christianity. 

452. Most Medieval Notions to be found in the Late Roman 
Empire. It would be a great mistake to suppose, however, that 
Roman civilization suddenly disappeared at this time as a result 
of the incoming barbarians. Long before the German conquest, 
art and literature had begun to decline toward the level that 
they reached in the Middle Ages. Many of the ideas and con- 
ditions which prevailed after the coming of the barbarians were 
common enough before. Even the ignorance and strange ideas 
which we associate particularly with the Middle Ages are to be 
found in the later Roman Empire. 

The term "Middle Ages" will be used in this volume to mean, 
roughly speaking, the period of over a thousand years that elapsed 



292 History of Europe 

between the fifth century, when the disorder of the barbarian 
invasions was becoming general, and the opening of the sixteenth 
century, when Europe was well on its way to recover all in the 
way of knowledge and skill that had been lost since the break-up 
of the Roman Empire. 

453. The Huns force the Goths into the Empire. Previous 
to the year 375 the attempts of the Germans to penetrate into the 
Roman Empire appear to have been due to their love of adven- 
ture, their hope of plundering their civilized neighbors, or the need 
of new lands for their increasing numbers. But suddenly a new 
force appeared in the rear of the Germans which thrust some of 
them across the northern boundary of the Empire. The Huns, a 
Mongolian folk from central Asia, swept down upon the Goths, 
who were a German tribe settled upon the Danube, and forced 
a part of them to seek shelter across the river, within the limits 
of the Empire. 

Here they soon fell out with the Roman officials, and a great 
battle was fought at Adrianople in 378 in which the Goths de- 
feated and slew the Roman emperor, Valens. The Germans had 
now not only broken through the boundaries of the Empire but 
they had also learned that they could defeat the troops on which 
the Empire relied for protection. The battle of Adrianople may 
therefore be said to mark the beginning of the conquest of the 
western part of the Empire by the Germans. For some years, 
however, after the battle of Adrianople the various bands of West 
Goths — or Visigoths, as they are often called — were induced to 
accept the terms of peace offered by the emperor's officials, and 
some of the Goths agreed to serve as soldiers in the Roman armies. 

454. Alaric takes Rome (410). Among the Germans who suc- 
ceeded in getting an important position in the Roman army was 
Alaric, but he appears to have become dissatisfied with the treat- 
ment he received from the emperor. He therefore collected an 
army, of which his countrymen, the West Goths, formed a con- 
siderable part, and set out for Italy, and finally decided to march 
on Rome itself. The Eternal City fell into his hands in 410 and 
was plundered by his followers. 



The German Invasions 293 

. m Although Alaric did not destroy the city, or even seriously 
"damage it, the fact that Rome had fallen into the hands of an 
invading army was a notable disaster. The pagans explained it 
on the ground that the old gods were angry because so many 
people had deserted them and become Christians. St. Augustine, 
in his famous book. The City of God, took much pains to prove 
that the Roman gods had never been able on previous occasions 
to prevent disaster to their worshipers and that Christianity could 
not be held responsible for the troubles of the time. 

455. West Goths settle in Southern Gaul and Spain ; the 
Vandals. Alaric died before he could find a satisfactory spot for 
his people to settle upon permanently. After his death the West 
Goths wandered into Gaul and then into Spain. Here they 
came upon the Vandals, another German tribe, who had crossed 
the Rhine four years before Alaric had captured Rome. For 
three years they had devastated Gaul and then had moved down 
into Spain. For a time after the arrival in Spain of the West 
Goths there was war between them and the Vandals. The West 
Goths seem to have got the best of their rivals, for the Vandals 
determined to move on across the Strait of Gibraltar into northern 
Africa, where they established a kingdom and conquered the 
neighboring islands in the Mediterranean (see map, p. 296). 

Having rid themselves of the Vandals, the West Goths took pos- 
session of a great part of the Spanish peninsula, and this they 
added to their conquests across the Pyrenees in Gaul, so that their 
kingdom extended from the river Loire to the Strait of Gibraltar. 

It is unnecessary to follow the confused history of the move- 
ments of the innumerable bands of restless barbarians who wan-_ 
dered about Europe during the fifth century. Scarcely any part 
of western Europe was left unmolested ; even Britain was con- 
quered by German tribes, the Angles and Saxons. 

456. Attila and the Huns. To add to the universal confusion 
caused by the influx of the German tribes, the Huns (the Mon- 
golian people who had first pushed the West Goths into the Em- 
pire) now began to fill all western Europe with terror. Under 
their chief, Attila, this savage people invaded Gaul. But the 



294 History of Europe 

Romans and the German inhabitants joined together against the 
invaders and defeated them in the battle of Chalons, in 451. 
After this rebuff in Gaul, Attila turned to Italy, But the danger 
there was averted by a Roman embassy headed by Pope Leo the 
Great, who induced Attila to give up his plan of marching upon 
Rome. Within a year he died, and with him perished the power 
of the Huns, who never troubled Europe again. 

457. The "Fall" of the Empire in the West (476). The year 
476 has commonly been taken as the date of the "fall" of the 
Western Empire and of the beginning of the Middle Ages. What 
happened in that year was this. Most of the Roman emperors 
in the West had proved weak and indolent rulers. So the bar- 
barians wandered hither and thither pretty much at their pleasure, 
and the German troops in the service of the Empire became ac- 
customed to set up and depose emperors to suit their own special 
interest, very much in the same way that a boss in an American 
city often succeeds in securing the election of a mayor who will 
carry out his wishes. Finally, in 476, Odoacer, the most powerful 
among the rival German generals in Italy, declared himself king 
and banished the last of the emperors of the West.^ 

458. Theodoric establishes the Kingdom of the East Goths 
in Italy. It was not, however, given to Odoacer to establish an 
enduring German kingdom on Italian soil, for he was conquered 
by the great Theodorci, the king of the East Goths (or Ostro- 
goths). Theodoric had spent ten years of his early youth in Con- 
stantinople and had thus become familiar with Roman life and 
was on friendly terms with the emperor of the East. 

The struggle between Theodoric and Odoacer lasted for sev- 
eral years, but Odoacer was finally shut up in Ravenna and sur- 
rendered, only to be treacherously slain a few days later by 
Theodoric's own hand (493). 

Theodoric put the name of the emperor at Constantinople on 
the coins which he issued and did everything in his power to gain 
the emperor's approval of the new German kingdom. Nevertheless, 

1 The common misapprehensions in regard to the events of 476 are discussed by the 
author in TAe New History, pp. 154 ff. 



The German Invasions 295 

although he desired that the- emperor should sanction his usurpa- 
tion, Theodoric had no idea of being really subordinate to 
Constantinople. 

Theodoric greatly admired the Roman laws and institutions and 
did his best to preserve them. The old offices and titles were re- 
tained, and Goth and Roman lived under the same Roman law. 
Order was maintained and learning encouraged. In Ravenna, 
which Theodoric chose for his capital, beautiful buildings still 
exist that date from his reign (see tailpiece, p. 306). 

459. Franks and Burgundians. While Theodoric had been 
establishing his kingdom in Italy in this enlightened way, Gaul, 
which we now call France, was coming under the control of the 
most powerful of all the barbarian peoples, the Franks, who were 
to play a more important role in the formation of modern Europe 
than any of the other German races (§§ 466-468). 

Besides the kingdom of the East Goths in Italy and of the 
Franks in Gaul, the West Goths had their kingdom in Spain, 
the Burgundians had established themselves on the Rhone River, 
and the Vandals in Africa. Royal alliances were concluded be- 
tween the various reigning houses, and for the first time in the 
history of Europe we see something like a family of nations, liv- 
ing each within its own boundaries and dealing with one another 
as independent powers (see map, p. 296). It seemed for a few 
years as if the new German kings who had divided the western 
portion of the Empire among themselves would succeed in keeping 
order and in preventing the loss of such civilization as remained. 

But no such good fortune was in store for Europe, which was 
now only at the beginning of the turmoil which was to leave it 
almost completely barbarized, for there was little to encourage 
the reading or writing of books, the study of science, or attention 
to art, in a time of constant warfare and danger. 

460. Cassiodorus and his Manuals. Theodoric had a dis- 
tinguished Roman counselor named Cassiodorus (d. 575), to whose 
letters we owe a great part of our knowledge of this period, and 
who busied himself in his old age in preparing textbooks of the 
"liberal" arts, — grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, 



296 



History of Europe 




100 200 300 400 




Lou|;it.ude 



Map of Europe in the Time of Theodoric 

It will be noticed that Theodoric's kingdom of the East Goths included a con- 
siderable part of what we call Austria to-day, and that the West Gothic king- 
dom extended into southern France. The Vandals held northern Africa and 
the adjacent islands. The Burgundians lay in between the East Goths and the 
Franks. The Lombards, who were later to move down into Italy, were in 
Theodoric's time east of the Bavarians, after whom modern Bavaria is named. 
Some of the Saxons invaded England, but many remained in Germany, as in- 
dicated on the map. The Eastern Empire, which was all that remained of the 
Roman Empire, included the Balkan Peninsula, xAsia Minor, and the eastern 
portion of the Mediterranean. The Britons in Wales, the Picts in .Scotland, 
and the Scots in Ireland were Celts, consequently modern Welsh, Gaelic, and 
Irish are closely related and belong to the Celtic group of languages 



music, and astronomy. His treatment of these seven important sub- 
jects, to which he devotes a few pages each, seems to us very silly 
and absurd and enables us to estimate the low plane to which 
learning had fallen in Italy in the sixth century. Yet these and 



The German Invasions 297 

similar works were regarded as standard treatises and used as 
textbooks all through the Middle Ages, while the really great 
Greek and Roman writers of the earlier period were forgotten. 

461. Disappearance of Books. Between the time of Theodoric 
and that of Charlemagne (§ 505) three hundred years elapsed, 
during which scarcely a person was to be found who could write 
out, even in the worst of Latin, an account of the events of his day. 
Everything conspired to discourage education. The great centers 
of learning — Carthage, Rome, Alexandria, Milan — had all been 
partially destroyed by the invaders. The libraries which had been 
kept in the temples of the pagan gods were often burned, along 
with the temples themselves, by Christian enthusiasts, who were 
not sorry to see the heathen books disappear with the heathen 
religion. 

462. Code of Justinian. The year after Theodoric's death one 
of the greatest of the emperors of the East, Justinian (527-565), 
came to the throne at Constantinople. He employed a very able 
lawyer named Tribonian to gather together all the numerous laws 
which had grown up since the age of the Twelve Tablets (§ 306) 
a thousand years before. Justinian was the Hammurapi of the 
Roman Empire (§69), and the vast body of laws which he col- 
lected provided for almost every situation and every difficulty 
arising in social life, in business transactions, or in legal proceed- 
ings. The collection of decisions of famous Roman judges brought 
together in Justinian's Digest became the foundation of law for 
later ages and still greatly influences the laws of civilized peoples 
of to-day. 

463. End of the Old Temples. Justinian did much to beautify 
his capital, Constantinople, but it was no longer for building the 
old temples of the gods or basilicas and amphitheaters that the 
ruler gave his wealth. The worship of the old gods had long 
before been prohibited by Christian emperors. After a.d. 400 the 
splendid temples which fringed the Mediterranean and extended 
far up the Nile were gradually forsaken by their worshipers, till 
finally they stood deserted and desolate as they are to-day or were 
converted into Christian churches. The last blow to what the 



298 



History of Europe 



Church regarded as Greek paganism was now struck by Justinian, 
who closed the schools of philosophy at Athens, established cen- 
turies earlier by the followers of Plato and Aristotle and by the 
Stoics and Epicureans. These, as we have seen (§286), formed 




Fig. 74. Church of St. Sophia 

This picture shows us the interior of the famous church of St. Sophia, built at 
Constantinople by Justinian from a.d. 532 to 537. Justinian's architects roofed 
the great church with a gigantic dome one hundred and eighty-three feet high 
at the center, sweeping clear across the audience room and producing the 
most imposing vaulted interior now surviving from the ancient world. Jus- 
tinian is said to have expended eighteen tons of gold and the labor of ten thou- 
sand men in the erection of the building. Since the capture of Constantinople 
by the Turks (a. d. 1453) the vast church has served as a Mohammedan mosque. 
The Turks have whitewashed the gorgeous mosaics with which the magnifi- 
cent interior is adorned, and large circular shields bearing the monogram of 
the Sultan have been hung against the walls 

a sort of great university frequented by scholars from all parts 
of the Empire. The buildings to which the emperor now devoted 
his wealth were churches. Saint Sophia, which he built at Con- 
stantinople, still stands to-day, the most magnificent of the early 
churches of the East, 



The German Invasions 299 

464. Justinian destroys Kingdoms of the Vandals and East 
Goths. Justinian undertook to regain for his empire the provinces 
in Africa and Italy that had been occupied by the Vandals and 
East Goths. His general, Belisarius, overthrew the Vandal king- 
dom in northern Africa in 534, but it was a more difficult task to 
destroy the Gothic rule in Italy. However, in spite of a brave 
resistance, the Goths were so completely defeated in 553 that they 
agreed to leave Italy with all their movable possessions. What 
became of the remnants of the race we do not know. 

465. The Lombards occupy Italy. The destruction of the 
Gothic kingdom was a disaster for Italy, for the Goths would have 
helped defend it against later and far more barbarous invaders. 
Immediately after the death of Justinian the country was over- 
run by the Lombards, the last of the great German peoples to 
establish themselves within the bounds of the former Empire. 
They were a savage race, a considerable part of which was still 
pagan. The newcomers first occupied the region north of the Po, 
which has ever since been called "Lombardy" after them, and 
then extended their conquests southward. Instead of settling 
themselves with the moderation and wise statesmanship of the 
East Goths, the Lombards moved about the peninsula pillaging 
and massacring. They were unable, however, to conquer all of 
Italy. Rome, Ravenna, and southern Italy continued to be held 
by the emperors who succeeded Justinian at Constantinople. As 
time went on, the Lombards lost their wildness and adopted 
the habits and religion of the people among whom thej^lived. 
Their kingdom lasted over two hundred years, until it was con- 
quered by Charlemagne (see below, § 508). 

II. Kingdom of the Franks 

466. The Franks and their Method of Conquest. The 

various kingdoms established by the German chieftains were not 
very permanent, as we have seen. The Franks, however, suc- 
ceeded in conquering more territory than any other people and in 
founding an empire far more important than the kingdoms of 



300 



History of Europe 



the West and East Goths, the Vandals, or the Lombards. We 

must now see how this was accomplished. 

When the Franks are first heard of in history they were settled 

along the lower Rhine, from Cologne to the North Sea. Their 

method of getting a foothold in 
the Empire was essentially dif- 
ferent from that which the Goths, 
Lombards, and Vandals had 
adopted. Instead of severing their 
connection with Germany and be- 
coming an island in the sea of the 
Empire, they conquered by degrees 
the territory about them. How- 
ever far they might extend their 
control, they remained in constant 
touch with their fellow barbarians 
behind them. In this way they 
retained the warlike vigor that ^as 
lost by the races who were com- 
pletely surrounded by the luxuries 
of Roman civilization. 

In the early part of the fifth 
century they had occupied the 
district which forms to-day the 
kingdom of Belgium, as well as 
the regions east of it. In 486, 
seven years before Theodoric 
founded his Italian kingdom, they 
went forth under their great king, 
Clovis (a name that later grew 
into Louis), and defeated the 
Roman general who opposed them. 
They extended their control over 

Gaul as far south as the Loire, which at that time formed 

the northern boundary of the kingdom of the West Goths. 

Clovis next enlarged his empire on the east by the conquest 




Fig. 75. Prankish Warrior 

It is very hard to find illustrations 
for a chapter on the barbarian in- 
vasions, for this period of disorder 
was no^ne in which pictures were 
being painted or buildings erected. 
From the slight descriptions we 
have of the costume worn by the 
Prankish soldiers, we infer that it 
was something like that repre- 
sented here. We know that they 
wore their hair in long braids and 
carried weapons similar to those 
in the picture 



The German Invasions 



301 




Km. of the 



The Dominions of the Franks under the Merovingians- 

This map shows how the Prankish kingdom grew up. Clovis while still a 
young man defeated the Roman general Syagrius in 486, near Soissons, and 
so added the region around Paris to his possessions. . He added Alemannia 
on the east in 496. In 507 he made Paris his capital and conquered Aquitania, 
previously held by the West Goths. He also made a beginning in adding the 
kingdom of the Burgundians to his realms. He died in 511. His successors 
in the next half century completed the conquest of Burgundy and added 
Provincia, Bavaria, and Gascony. There were many divisions of the Prankish 
realms after the time of Clovis, and the eastern and western portions, called 
Austrasia and Neustria, were often ruled by different branches of the Merovin- 
gians, as Clovis's family was called 



of the Alemanni, a German people living in the region of the 
Black Forest and north of the Lake of Constance. 

467. Conversion of Clovis (496). The battle in which the 
Alemanni were defeated (496) is in one respect important above 
all the other battles of Clovis. Although still a pagan himself, his 
wife had been converted to Christianity. In the midst of the 
battle, seeing his troops giving way, he called upon Jesus Christ 



302 History of Europe 

and pledged himself to be baptized in his name if he would help 
the Franks to victory over their enemies. When he won the battle 
he kept his word and was baptized, together with three thousand 
of his warriors. 

468. Conquests of Clevis and his Successors. To the south 
of Clovis's new possessions in Gaul lay the kingdom of the West 
Goths ; to the southeast that of another German people, the 
Burgundians. Clovis speedily extended his power to the Pyrenees 
and forced the West Goths to confine themselves to the Spanish 
portion of their realm, while the Burgundians soon fell completely 
under the rule of the Franks. Then Clovis, by a series of murders, 
brought portions of the Frankish nation itself, which had pre- 
viously been independent of him, under his scepter. 

When Clovis died in 511 at Paris, which he had made his 
residence, his four sons divided his possessions among them. Wars 
between rival brothers, interspersed with the most horrible mur- 
ders, fill the annals of the Frankish kingdom for over a hundred 
years after the death of Clovis. Yet the nation continued to 
develop in spite of the unscrupulous deeds of its rulers. 

The Frankish kings who followed Clovis succeeded in extend- 
ing their power over pretty nearly all the territory that is in- 
cluded to-day in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, as well 
as over a goodly portion of western Germany. Half a century 
after the death of Clovis their dominions extended from the Bay 
of Biscay on the west to a point east of Salzburg. 

III. Results of the Barbarian Invasions 

469. Fusion of the Barbarians and the Roman Population. 
As one looks back over the German invasions it is natural to 
ask upon what terms the newcomers lived among the old inhabi- 
tants of the Empire, how far they adopted the customs of those 
among whom they settled, and how far they clung to their old 
habits ? These questions cannot be answered very satisfactorily. 
So little is known of the confused period of which we have been 
speaking that it is impossible to follow closely the mixing of the 
two races. 



The German Invasions 303 

In the first place, we must be on our guard against exaggerat- 
ing the numbers in the various bodies of invaders. The readiness 
with which the Germans appear to have adopted the language and 
customs of the Romans would tend to prove that the invaders 
formed but a small minority of the population. Since hundreds 
of thousands of barbarians had been absorbed during the previous 
five centuries, the invasions of the fifth century can hardly have 
made an abrupt change in the character of the population. 

470. Contrast between Spoken and Written Latin. The 
barbarians within the old Empire were soon speaking the same 
conversational Latin which was everywhere used by the Romans 
about them. This was much simpler than the elaborate and com- 
plicated language used in books, which we find so much difficulty 
in learning nowadays. In the various countries of southern Eu- 
rope the speech of the common people was gradually diverging 
more and more from the written Latin and finally grew into 
French, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese. But the barbarians did 
not produce this change, for it had begun before they came and 
would have gone on without them. They did no more than con- 
tribute a few convenient words to the new languages. 

The northern Franks, who did not penetrate far into the Em- 
pire, and the Germans who remained in what is now Germany 
and in Scandinavia, had of course no reason for giving up their 
native tongues ; the Angles and Saxons in Britain also kept theirs. 
These Germanic languages in time became Dutch, English, Ger- 
man, Danish, Swedish, etc. Of this matter something will be 
said later (pp. 679-684). 

471. The Roman and the German Law. The Germans and 
the older inhabitants of the Roman Empire appear to have had 
no dislike for one another except when there was a difference in 
religion.^ Where there was no religious barrier the two races in- 
termarried freely from the first. The Prankish kings did not 
hesitate to appoint Romans to important positions in the govern- 
ment and in the army, just as the Romans had long been in the 

1 The West and East Goths and the Burgundians were heretics in the eyes of the 
Catholic Church, for they had been taught their Christianity by missionaries who disa- 
greed with the Catholic Church on certain points. 



304 History oj Europe 

habit of employing the barbarians as generals and officials. In 
only one respect were the two races distinguished for a time — 
each had its particular law. 

The West Goths were probably the first to write down their 
ancient laws, using the Latin language for the purpose. Their 
example was followed by the Franks, the Burgundians, and later 
by the Lombards and other peoples. These codes make up the 
"Laws of the Barbarians," which form our most important 
source of knowledge of the habits and ideas of the Germans at 
the time of the invasions. For several centuries following the 
barbarian conquests the members of the various German tribes 
appear to have been judged by the laws of the particular people 
to which they belonged. The older inhabitants of the Empire, 
on the contrary, continued to have their lawsuits decided ac- 
cording to the Roman law. 

472. Medieval Trials. The German laws did not provide for 
trials, either in the Roman or the modern sense of the word. There 
was no attempt to gather and weigh evidence and base the decision 
upon it. Such a mode of procedure was far too elaborate for the 
simple-minded Germans. Instead of a regular trial, one of the 
parties to the case was designated to prove that his side of the case 
was right by one of the following methods : 

1. He might solemnly swear that he was telling the truth, and 
get as many other persons of his own class as the cgurt required, 
to swear that they believed that he was telling the truth. This 
was called compurgation. It was believed that God would punish 
those who swore falsely. 

2. On the other hand, the parties to the case, or persons 
representing them, might meet in combat, on the supposition 
that Heaven would grant victory to the right. This was the so- 
called wager oj battle. 

3. Lastly, one or other of the parties might be required to sub- 
mit to the ordeal in one of its various forms : He might plunge his 
arm into hot water or carry a bit of hot iron for some distance, 
and if at the end of three days he showed no ill effects, the case 
was decided in his favor. Or he might be ordered to walk over 



The German Invasions 305 

hot plowshares, and if he was not burned, it was assumed that 
God had intervened by a miracle to establish the right. This 
method of trial is but one example of the rude civilization which 
displaced the refined and elaborate organization of the Romans. 

473. The Ignorance and Disorder of the Early Middle Ages. 
The account which has been given of the conditions in the Roman 
Empire, and of the manner in which the barbarians occupied its 
western part, serves to explain why the following centuries — 
known as the early Middle Ages — were a time of ignorance and 
disorder. The Germans, no doubt, varied a good deal in their 
habits and character. The Goths differed from the Lombards, 
and the Franks from the Vandals ; but they all agreed in know- 
ing nothing of the art, literature, and science which had been 
developed by the Greeks and adopted by the Romans. The in- 
vaders were ignorant, simple, vigorous people, with no taste for 
anything except fighting, eating, and drinking. Such was the 
disorder that their coming produced that the declining civiliza- 
tion of the Empire was pretty nearly submerged. The libraries, 
buildings, and works of art were destroyed or neglected, and there 
was no one to see that they were restored. So the Western world 
fell back into a condition similar to that in which it had been 
before the Romans conquered and civilized it. 

The loss was, however, temporary. The great heritage of skill 
and invention which had been slowly accumulated in Egypt and 
Greece, and which formed a part of the civilization which the 
Romans had adopted and spread abroad throughout their great 
Empire, did not wholly perish. 

It is true that the break-up of the Roman Empire and the 
centuries of turmoil which followed set everything back, but we 
shall see how the barbarian nations gradually developed into our 
modern European states, how universities were established in 
which the books of the Greeks and Romans were studied. Archi- 
tects arose in time to imitate the old buildings and build a new 
kind of their own quite as imposing as those of the Romans ; and 
men of science carried discoveries far beyond anything known to 
the wisest of the Greeks and Romans. 



3o6 



History of Europe 



QUESTIONS 

I. How did the Germans first come into the Roman Empire, and 
for what reasons ? What is meant by the barbarian invasions ? Give 
some examples. Trace the history of the West Goths. Where did 
they finally estabHsh their kingdom? Why has the year 476 been 
regarded as the date of the fall of the Roman Empire ? Tell what you 
can of Theodoric and his kingdom. Contrast the Lombard invaders 
of Italy with the East Goths. 

II. Who were the Franks, and how did their invasion differ from 
that of the other German peoples ? What did Clovis accomplish, and 
what was the extent of the kingdom of the Franks under his successors ? 

III. On what terms do the Germans seem to have lived with the 
people of the Roman Empire ? Why are the "Laws of the Barbarians" 
useful to the historian? Compare the ways in which the Germans 
tried law cases with those we use to-day in the United States. Tell 
as clearly as possible why the Middle Ages were centuries of disorder 
and ignorance as compared with the earlier period. 

Note. The illustration below represents the tomb of Theodoric. Emperors and rich 
men were accustomed in Roman times to build handsome tombs for themselves. Theod- 
oric followed their example and erected this two-storied building at Ravenna to serve 
as his mausoleum. The dome consists of a single great piece of rock thirty-six feet in 
diameter, weighing five hundred tons, brought from across the Adriatic. Theodoric was 
a heretic in the eyes of the Catholic Church, and not long after his death his remains 
were taken out of his tomb and scattered to the winds, and the building converted into 
a church. The picture represents the tomb as it probably looked originally ; it has been 
somewhat altered in modern times, but is well preserved. 




'"tz-i^ 






CHAPTER XXI 
THE RISE OF THE PAPACY 

I. The Christian Church 

474. The Popes. Besides the emperors at Constantinople and 
the various German kings there grew up in Europe a line of rulers 
far more powerful than any of these, namely, the popes at Rome. 

We have already seen how marvelously the Christian com- 
munities founded by the apostles and their fellow missionaries 
multiplied until, by the middle of the third century, people came 
to conceive of a " Catholic," or all-embracing. Church. We have 
seen how Emperor Constantine favored Christianity and how his 
successors worked in 'the interest of the new religion. The Jus- 
tinian Code (§462) safeguarded the Church and the Christian 
clergy and harshly treated those who ventured to hold another 
view of Christianity from that approved by the government. 

475. Contrast between Pagan and Christian Ideas. One 
great source of the Church's strength lay in the general fear of 
death and judgment to come, which Christianity had brought with 
it. The educated Greeks and Romans of the classical period usu- 
ally thought of the next life, when they thought of it at all, as 
a very uninteresting existence compared with that on this earth. 
One who committed some great crime might suffer for it after 
death with pains similar to those of the hell in which the Chris- 
tians believed. But the great part of humanity were supposed 
to lead in the next world a shadowy existence, neither sad nor 
glad. Religion, even to the devout pagan, was, as we have seen, 
mainly an affair of this life ; the gods were worshiped with a view 
to securing happiness and success in this world. 

Christianity opposed this view of life with an entirely different 
one. It constantly emphasized man's existence after death, which 

307 



3o8 History of Europe 

it declared to be infinitely more important than his brief sojourn 
on earth. Under the influence of the Church this conception of 
life gradually supplanted the pagan one in the Roman world, and 
it was taught to the barbarians, 

476. The Monks. The " other- worldliness " became so intense 
that thousands gave up their ordinary occupations altogether 
and devoted their entire attention to preparation for the next 
life. They shut themselves in lonely cells, and, not satisfied 
with giving up most of their natural pleasures, they inflicted 
bodily suffering upon themselves by hunger, cold, and other dis- 
comforts. They trusted that in this way they might avoid some 
of the sins into which they were apt to fall, and that, by self- 
inflicted punishment in this world, they might perchance escape 
some of that reserved for them in the next, (See next chapter.) 

477. The Church claims to be One Means of Salvation. 
The barbarians were taught that their fate in the next world 
depended largely upon the Church, Its ministers never wearied 
of presenting the alternative which faced every man so soon as 
this short earthly existence should be over — the alternative be- 
tween eternal bliss in heaven and perpetual, unspeakable torment 
in hell. Only those who had been duly baptized could hope to 
reach heaven ; but baptism washed away only past sins and did 
not prevent new ones. These, unless their guilt was removed 
through the Church, would surely drag the soul down to hell. 

478. Miracles. The divine power of the Church was, further- 
more, established in the eyes of the people by the wonderful 
works which Christian saints were constantly performing. They 
healed the sick, made the blind to see and the lame to walk. They 
called down God's wrath upon those who opposed the Church 
and invoked terrible punishments upon those who treated her 
holy rites with contempt. To the reader of to-day the fre- 
quency of the miracles narrated by medieval writers seems as- 
tonishing. The lives of the medieval saints, of which hundreds 
and hundreds have been preserved, contain little else than ac- 
counts of them, and no one appears to have doubted their everyday 
occurrence. 



The Rise of the Papacy 



309 



iJT 

■ 479. The Early Churches. A word should be said of the early 
Christian church buildings. The Romans were accustomed to 
build near their market places a species of public hall, in which 
townspeople could meet one another to -transact business and in 
which judges could hear cases and public officials attend to 
their duties. These buildings, as we have seen, were called basili- 
cas. There were several magnificent ones in Rome itself, and there 




Fig. 76. Santa Maria Maggiore 

This beautiful church at Rome was built shortly after Constantine's time, and 

the interior, here shown, with its stately columns, above which are fine mosaics, 

is still nearly as it was in the time of St. Augustine, fifteen hundred years ago. 

The ceiling is of the sixteenth century 



was doubtless at least one to be found in every town of consider- 
able size. The roofs of these spacious halls were usually sup- 
ported by long rows of columns ; sometimes there were two rows 
on each side, forming aisles. When, after Constantine had given 
his approval to Christianity, large, fine churches began to be built 
they were constructed like these familiar public halls and, like 
them, were called basilicas. 

During the sixteen hundred years that have passed since Con- 
stantine's time naturally almost all the churches of his day have 



310 History of Europe 

disappeared or been greatly altered. But the beautiful church of 
Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome (Fig. 76) was built only a 
hundred years later and gives us an excellent notion of a Christian 
basilica with its fine rows of columns and its handsome mosaic 
decorations. In general, the churches were plain and unattractive 
on the outside. A later chapter will explain how the basilica grew 
into the Gothic cathedral, which was as beautiful outside as inside. 

480. The Church and the Roman Government. The chief 
importance of the Church for the student of medieval history does 
not lie, however, in its religious functions, vital as they were, but 
rather in its remarkable relations to the government. From the 
days of Constantine on, the Catholic Church had usually enjoyed 
the hearty support and protection of the government. But so long 
as the Roman Empire remained strong and active there was 
no chance for the clergy to free themselves from the control of 
the emperor, even if they had been disposed to do so. He made 
such laws for the Church as he saw fit, and the clergy did not 
complain. The government was, indeed, indispensable to them. 
It undertook to root out paganism by destroying the heathen 
shrines and preventing lieathen sacrifices, and it punished severely 
those who refused to accept the teachings sanctioned by the 
Church. 

But as the great Empire began to fall apart there was a grow- 
ing tendency among the churchmen in the West to resent the 
interference of the new rulers whom they did not respect. Con- 
sequently they managed gradually to free themselves in large 
part from the control of the government, 

481. The Church begins to perform the Functions of Gov- 
ernment. The authority of the various barbarian kings was sel- 
dom sufficient to keep their realms in order. There were always 
many powerful landholders scattered throughout the kingdom 
who did pretty much what they pleased and settled their grudges 
against their fellows by neighborhood wars. Fighting was the 
main business as well as the chief amusement of this class. The 
king was unable to maintain peace and protect the oppressed, 
however anxious he may have been to do so. 



The Rise of the Papacy 311 

Under these circumstances it naturally fell to the Church to 
keep order, when it could, by either threats or persuasion ; to 
see that contracts were kept, the wills of the dead carried out, 
and marriage obligations observed. It took the defenseless widow 
and orphan under its protection and dispensed charity ; it pro- 
moted education at a time when few laymen, however rich and 
noble, were able even to read. These conditions serve to explain 
why the Church was finally able so greatly to extend the powers 
which it had enjoyed under the Roman Empire, and why it under- 
took duties which seem to us to belong to the State rather than 
to a religious organization. 

II. Origin of the Power of the Popes 

482. Origin of Papal Power. We must now turn to a con- 
sideration of the origin and growth of the supremacy of the popes, 
who, by raising themselves to the head of the Western Church, 
became in many respects more powerful than any of the kings 
and princes with whom they frequently found themselves in 
bitter conflict. 

There is little doubt that the bishop of Rome and his flock 
had almost from the very first enjoyed a leading place among the 
Christian communities. The Roman church was the only one 
in the West which could claim the distinction of having been 
founded by the immediate followers of Christ — the "two most 
glorious apostles, Peter and Paul." 

483. Belief that Peter was the First Bishop of Rome, The 
New Testament speaks repeatedly of Paul's presence in Rome. 
As for Peter, there had always been an unquestioned tradition, 
accepted throughout the Christian Church, that he was the first 
bishop of Rome. This belief appears to have been generally ac- 
cepted at least as early as the middle of the second century. There 
is, certainly, no conflicting tradition, no rival claimant. The belief 
itself, whether or not it corresponds with actual events, is a fact 
of the greatest historical importance. Peter enjoyed a preeminence 
among the other apostles and was singled out by Christ upon 



312 History oj Europe 

several occasions. In a passage of the New Testament (Matt, xvi, 
18-19), which has affected history more profoundly than the 
edicts of the most powerful monarch, Christ says: "And I say 
also unto thee. That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will 
build my church ; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 
And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven : and 
whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven ; and 
whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." 
This the popes have always claimed as the divine sanction of the 
powers which they believed to be theirs. 

484. The Roman Church the Mother Church. Thus it was 
natural that the Roman church should early have been looked 
upon as the "mother church" in the West. Its doctrines were 
considered the purest, since they had been handed down from its 
exalted founders. When there was a difference of opinion in 
regard to the truth of a particular teaching, it was natural that 
all should turn to the bishop of Rome for his view. Moreover, 
the majesty of Rome, the capital of the world, helped to exalt 
its bishop above his fellows. It was long, however, before all 
the other bishops, especially those in the large cities, were ready 
to accept unconditionally the authority of the bishop of Rome, 
although they acknowledged his leading position and that of the 
Roman community. 

We know comparatively little of the bishops of Rome during the 
first three or four centuries of the Church's existence. It is only 
with the accession of Leo the Great (440-461) that our knowledge 
of the history of the papacy may, in one sense, be said to begin 

(§456). 

485. Title of Pope. The name " pope " (Latin papa, " father ") 
was originally and quite naturally given to all bishops, and even 
to priests. It began to be especially applied to the bishops of 
Rome, perhaps as early as the sixth century, but was not ap- 
parently confined to them until two or three hundred years later. 
Gregory VII (d. 1085 ; §§ 592-593, below) was the first to 
declare explicitly that the title should be used only for the 
bishop of Rome. 



l^he Rise oj the Papacy 



313 



Not long after the death of Leo the Great, Odoacer put an 
end to the Western line of emperors. Then, as we know, Theod- 
oric and his East Goths settled in Italy, only to be followed by 
still less desirable intruders, the Lombards. During this tumul- 
tuous period the people of Rome, and even of all Italy, came to 




Fig. 77. The Ancient Basilica of St. Peter 



Of the churches built by Constantine in Rome that in honor of St. Peter was, 
next to the Lateran, the most important. It was constructed on the site of 
Nero's circus, where St. Peter was believed to have been crucified. It retained 
its original appearance, as here represented, for twelve hundred years, and 
then the popes (who had given up the Lateran as their residence and come to 
live in the Vatican palace close to St. Peter's) determined to build the new 
and grander church one sees to-day (see pp. 456-457, below). Constantine 
and the popes made constant use in their buildings of columns and stones taken 
from the older Roman buildings, which were in this way demolished 



regard the Pope as their natural leader. The Eastern emperor 
was far away, and his officers, who managed to hold a portion of 
central Italy around Rome and Ravenna, were glad to accept the 
aid and counsel of the Pope. 

486. Gregory the Great (590-604). The pontificate of Gregory 
the Great, one of the half dozen most distinguished heads that 
the Church has ever had, shows how great a part the papacy 



314 History of Europe 

could play. When he was chosen Pope (in 590) and most re- 
luctantly left his monastery, ancient Rome, the capital of the 
Empire, was already transforming itself into medieval Rome, the 
capital of Christendom. The temples of the gods had furnished 
materials for the many Christian churches. The tombs of the 
apostles Peter and Paul were soon to become the center of religious 
attraction and the goal of pilgrimages from every part of western 
Europe. 

Gregory's letters show clearly what the papacy was coming 
to mean for Europe when in the hands of a really great man. 
While he assumed the humble title of " Servant of the servants 
of God," which the popes still use, Gregory was a statesman 
whose influence extended far and wide. It devolved upon him to 
govern the city of Rome, — as it did upon his successors down to 
the year 1870, — for the Eastern emperor's control had become 
merely nominal. He had also to keep the Lombards out of cen- 
tral Italy, which they failed to conquer largely on account of 
the valiant defense of the popes. These duties were functions 
of the State, and in assuming them Gregory may be said to have 
founded the "temporal" power of the popes. 

487. Gregory's Missionary Undertakings. Beyond the bor- 
ders of Italy, Gregory was in constant communication with the 
emperor and the Prankish and Burgundian rulers. Everywhere 
he used his influence to have good clergymen chosen as bishops, 
and everywhere he watched over the interests of the monasteries. 
But his chief importance in the history of the papacy is due to 
the missionary enterprises he undertook, through which the great 
countries that were one day to be called England, France, and 
Germany were brought under the sway of the Roman church 
and its head, the Pope. 

As Gregory had himself been a devoted monk it was natural 
that he should rely chiefly upon the monks in his great work of 
converting the heathen. Consequently, before considering his 
missionary achievements, we must glance at the origin and 
character of the monks, who are so conspicuous throughout the 
Middle Ages. 



The Rise of the Papacy 



31S 



QUESTIONS 

I. Why is it essential to know about the history of the Church in 
order to understand the Middle Ages ? Compare the Christian idea 
of the importance of life in this world and the next with the pagan 
views. Describe a basilica. Mention some governmental duties that 
were assumed by the Church. Give the reasons why the Church be- 
came such a great power in the Middle Ages. 

II. Why was the Roman church the most important of all the Chris- 
tian churches ? On what grounds did the bishop of Rome claim to 
be the head of the whole Church ? Did the Christians in the eastern 
portion of the Roman Empire accept the bishop of Rome as their 
head ? Why did the popes become influential in the governing not 
only of Rome but of Italy ? Tell what you can of Gregory the Great. 

Note. The Roman Emperor Hadrian (§ 398) built a great circular tomb at Rome, 
on the west bank of the Tiber, for himself and his successors. It was two hundred and 
forty feet across, perhaps one hundred and sixty-five feet high, covered with marble and 
adorned with statues. When Rome was besieged by the Germans in 537 the inhabi- 
tants used the tomb for a fortress and threw down the statues on the heads of the bar- 
barians. When Gregory the Great prayed that Rome be delivered from a terrible 
pestilence he saw the archangel Michael sheathing his sword over Hadrian's tomb; and 
since then it has been called the Castle of the Holy Angel. 













- -^^^^^W^^^^gt^^iJ!^^ 




CHAPTER XXII 

THE MONKS AND THEIR MISSIONARY WORK; 
THE MOHAMMEDANS 

I. Monks and Monasteries 

488. Importance of the Monks. It would be difficult to over- 
estimate the influence that the monks exercised for centuries in 
Europe. The proud annals of the Benedictines, Franciscans, 
Dominicans, and Jesuits contain many a distinguished name. 
The most eminent philosophers, scientists, historians, artists, poets, 
and statesmen may be found in their ranks. Among those whose 
achievements we shall mention later are " The Venerable Bede," 
Boniface, Thomas Aquinas, Roger Bacon, Fra Angelico, Luther, 
Erasmus, Loyola — all these, and many others who have been 
leaders in various branches of human activity, were monks. 

489. Monasticism appealed to Many Classes. The life in a 
monastery appealed to many different kinds of people. The mo- 
nastic life was safe and peaceful, as well as holy. The monastery 
was the natural refuge not only of the religiously minded but of 
those of a studious or thoughtful disposition who disliked the 
career of a soldier and were disinclined to face the dangers and 
uncertainties of the times. Even the rude and unscrupulous war- 
riors hesitated to destroy the property or disturb the life of those 
who were believed to enjoy God's special favor. The monastery 
furnished, too, a refuge for the friendless, an asylum for the 
disgraced, and food and shelter for the indolent, who would other- 
wise have had to earn their living. There were, therefore, many 
different motives which led people to enter monasteries. Kings 
and nobles, for the good of their souls, readily gave land upon 
which to found colonies of monks, and there were plenty of remote 
spots in the mountains and forests to invite those who wished to 
escape from the world and its temptations, its dangers or its cares. 

316 



The Monks and their Missionary Work 317 

490. Rule of St. Benedict. Monastic communities first de- 
veloped on a large scale in Egypt in the fourth century. The 
idea, however, was quickly taken up in Europe. In the sixth 
century monasteries multiplied so rapidly in western Europe that 
it became necessary to establish definite rules for these com- 
munities which proposed to desert the ordinary ways of the world 
and lead a holy life apart. Accordingly St. Benedict drew up, 
about the year 526, a sort of constitution for the monastery of 
Monte Cassino, in southern Italy, of which he was the head. This 
was so sagacious, and so well met the needs of the monastic life, 
that it was rapidly accepted by the other monasteries and gradu- 
ally became the "rule" according to which all the Western 
monks lived .^ 

The Rule of St. Benedict is as important as any constitution 
that was ever drawn up for a state. It is for the most part very 
wise and sensible. It provided that, since everyone is not fitted 
for the monk's life, the candidate for admission to the monastery 
should pass through a period of probation, called the novitiate, 
before he was permitted to take the solemn, final vows. The 
brethren were to elect the head of the monastery — the abbot, as 
he was called. Along with frequent prayer and meditation the 
monks were to do the necessary cooking and washing for the 
monastery and raise the necessary vegetables and grain. They 
were also to read and teach. Those who were incapacitated for 
outdoor work were assigned lighter tasks, such as copying books. 

491. The Monastic Vows. The monk had to take the three 
vows of obedience, poverty, and purity. He was to obey the 
abbot without question in all matters that did not involve his 
committing a sin. He pledged himself to perpetual and absolute 
poverty, and everything he used was the property of the convent. 
He was not permitted to own anything whatsoever — not even a 
book or a pen. Along with the vows of obedience and poverty, 
he was also required to pledge himself never to marry ; for not 

1 Benedict did not introduce monasticism in the West, as is sometimes supposed, nor 
did he even found an order in the proper sense of the word, under a single head, like 
the later Franciscans and Dominicans. Nevertheless, the monks who lived under his 
rule are ordinarily spoken lof as belonging to the Benedictine Qrd^r. 



3i8 History of Europe 

only was the single life considered more holy than the married, 
but the monastic organization would have been impossible unless 
the monks remained single. 

The influence of the Benedictine monks upon Europe is in- 
calculable. From their numbers no less than twenty-four popes 
and forty-six hundred bishops and archbishops have been chosen. 
They boast almost sixteen thousand writers, some of great dis- 
tinction. Their monasteries furnished retreats during the Middle 
Ages, where the scholar might study and write in spite of the 
prevailing disorder of the times. 

492. How the Monks contributed to Civilization. The copy- 
ing of books, as has been said, was a natural occupation of the 
monks. Doubtless their work was often done carelessly, with little 
heart and less understanding. But with the great loss of manu- 
scripts due to the destruction of libraries and the general lack of 
interest in books, it was most essential that new copies should be 
made. Even poor and incorrect ones were better than none. Al- 
most all the books written by the Romans disappeared altogether 
during the Middle Ages, but from time to time a monk would 
copy out the poems of Virgil, Horace, or Ovid, or the speeches of 
Cicero. In this way some of the chief works of the Latin writers 
have continued to exist down to the present day. 

The monks regarded good hard work as a great aid to salva- 
tion. They set the example of careful cultivation of the lands 
about their monasteries and in this way introduced better farm- 
ing methods into the regions where they settled. They enter- 
tained travelers at a time when there were few or no inns and 
so increased the intercourse between the various parts of Europe. 

493. Arrangement of a Monastery. The home which the 
monks constructed for themselves was called a monastery or 
abbey. This was afranged to meet their particular needs and was 
usually at a considerable distance from any town, in order to 
insure solitude and quiet.^ It was modeled upon the general plan 
of the Roman country house. The buildings were arranged around 
a court, called the cloister. On all four sides of this was a covered 

1 Later monasteries were sometimes built in towns or ^st outside the walls. 



The Monks atid their Missionary Work 



319 



walk, which made it possible to reach all the buildings without 
exposing one's self to either the rain or the hot sun. Not only 
the Benedictines but all the orders which sprang up in later 
centuries arranged their homes in much the same way. 

On the north side of the cloister was the church, which always 
faced west. As time went on and certain groups of monks were 










5^^^-^^'^"^:^- 




l-i iliiiiihil: 










^s^ 



Fig. 78. Monastery of Val di Cristo 

This monastery in southern Spain has two cloisters, the main one lying to the 

left. One can see how the buildings were surrounded by vegetable gardens 

and an orchard which supplied the monks with food. We know that we are 

viewing the monastery from the west, for the church faces us 

given a great deal of property, they constructed very beautiful 
churches for their monasteries. Westminster Abbey was origi- 
nally the church of a monastery lying outside the city of London, 
and there are in Great Britain many picturesque remains of ruined 
abbey churches which attract the attention of every traveler. 

On the west side of the cloister were storerooms for pro- 
visions ; on the south side, opposite the church, was the " re- 
fectory," or dining room, and a sitting room that could be warmed 
in cold weather. In the cloister, near the dining room, was a wash 



32 History oj Europe 

room where the monk could wash his hands before meals. To 
the east of the cloister was the "dormitory," where the monks 
slept. This always adjoined the church, for the Rule required that 
the monks should hold services seven times a day. One of these 
services, called vigils, came well before daybreak, and it was 
convenient when you were summoned in the darkness out of your 
warm bed to be able to go down a short passage that led from 
the dormitory into the choir of the church, where the service 
was held. 

The Benedictine Rule provided that the monks should so far 
as possible have everything for their support on their own land. 
So outside the group of buildings around the cloister would be 
found the garden, the orchard, the mill, a fishpond, and fields 
for raising grain. There were also a hospital for the sick and a 
guest house for pilgrims or poor people who happened to come 
along. In the greater monasteries there were also quarters where 
a king or nobleman might spend a few nights in such comfort as 
was possible in those days. 

II. Missionary Work of the Monks 

494. The Monks as Missionaries. The first great undertaking 
of the monks was the conversion of those German peoples who 
had not yet been won over to Christianity. These the monks 
made not merely Christians but also dutiful subjects of the Pope. 
In this way the strength of the Roman Catholic Church was 
greatly increased. The first people to engage the attention of the 
monks were the heathen German tribes who had conquered the 
once Christian Britain. 

495. Saxons and Angles conquer Britain. The islands which 
are now known as the kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, were, 
at the opening of the Christian Era, occupied by several Celtic 
peoples of whose customs and religion we know almost nothing. 
Julius Caesar commenced the conquest of the islands (55 b.c.) 
(§ 367), and later the Emperor Claudius carried on the work 
(§ 391). But the Romans never succeeded in establishing their 
power beyond the wall which they built from the Clyde to the 



The Monks and their Missionary Work 321 

Firth of Forth to keep out the wild tribes of the North. Even 
south of the wall the country was not completely Romanized, 
and the Celtic tongue has actually survived down to the present 
day in Wales. 

At the opening of the fifth century th^ barbarian invasions 
forced Rome to withdraw its legions from Britain in order to 
protect its frontiers on the Continent, The island was thus left 
to be conquered gradually by the Germanic peoples, mainly Saxons 
and Angles, who came across the North Sea from the region south 
of Denmark. Almost all record of what went on during the two 
centuries following the departure of the Romans has disap- 
peared. No one knows the fate of the original Celtic inhabitants 
of England. It was formerly supposed that they were all killed 
or driven to the mountain districts of Wales, but this seems un- 
likely. More probably they were gradually lost among the dom- 
inating Germans, with whom they merged into one people. The 
Saxon and Angle chieftains established small kingdoms, of which 
there were seven or eight at the time when Gregory the Great 
became Pope (§§486-487). 

496. Conversion of Britain. Gregory, while still a simple 
monk, had been struck with the beauty of some Angles whom he 
saw one day in the slave market at Rome. When he learned who 
they were he was grieved that such handsome beings should still 
belong to the kingdom of the Prince of Darkness, and he wished 
to go as a missionary to their people, but permission was refused 
him. So when he became Pope he sent forty monks to England 
under the leadership of a prior named Augustine (who must not 
be confused with the church father of that name). The heathen 
king of Kent, in whose territory Augu3tine and his monks landed 
with fear and trembling (597), had a Christian wife, the daughter 
of a Prankish king. Through her influence the monks were 
kindly received and were given an ancient church at Canterbury, 
dating from the Roman occupation before the German invasions. 
Here they established a monastery, and from this center the con- 
version, first of Kent and then of the whole island, was gradually 
accomplished. Canterbury has always maintained its early preemi- 
nence and may still be considered the religious capital of England. 



32 2 History oj Europe 

England thus became a part of the ever-growing territory 
embraced in the Roman Catholic Church and remained for 
nearly a thousand years as faithful to the Pope as any other 
Catholic country. The most distinguished writer of the seventh 
and early eighth centuries in Europe was the English monk Bseda 
(often called "The Venerable Bede," 673-735), fro"^ whose ad- 
mirable history of the Church in England most of our information 
about the period is derived. 

497. St. Boniface, the Apostle to the Germans. In 718 
St. Boniface, an English monk, was sent by the Pope as a mis- 
sionary to the Germans. He succeeded in converting many of the 
more remote German tribes who still clung to their old pagan be- 
liefs. His energetic methods are illustrated by the story of how he 
cut down the sacred oak of the old German god Odin, at Fritzlar, 
in Hesse, and used the wood to build a chapel, around which a 
monastery soon grew up. 

III. Mohammed and his Religion 

498. Mohammed. Just at the time that Gregory the Great 
was doing so much to strengthen the power and influence of the 
popes in Rome, a young Arab camel driver in far-away Mecca 
was devising a religion which was destined to spread with astound- 
ing rapidity into Asia, Africa, and Europe and to become a great 
rival of Christianity. And to-day the millions who believe in 
Mohammed as God's greatest prophet are probably equal in num- 
ber to those who are faithful to the Pope. 

Before the time of Mohammed the Arabs (a branch of the 
great Semitic people) had played no great part in the world's 
history. The scattered tribes were constantly at war with one 
another, and each tribe worshiped its own gods, when it wor- 
shiped at all. Mecca was considered a sacred spot, however, and 
the fighting was stopped four months each year so that all 
could peacefully visit the Kaaba, a sort of temple, full of idols and 
containing in particular a black stone, about as long as a man's 
hand, which was regarded as specially worthy of reverence. 



The Monks and their Missionary Work 323 

As Mohammed traveled back and forth across the desert with 
his trains of camels heavily laden with merchandise he had plenty 
of time to think, and he became convinced that God was sending 
him messages which it was his duty to reveal to mankind. He 
met many Jews and Christians, of whom there were great num- 
bers in Arabia, and from them he got some ideas of the Old and 
New Testaments. But when he tried to convince people that he 
was God's prophet, and that the Angel Gabriel had appeared to 
him in his dreams and told him of a new religion, he was treated 
with scorn. 

Finally, he discovered that his enemies in Mecca were plan- 
ning to kill him, and he fled to the neighboring town of Medina, 
where he had friends. His flight, which took place in the year 
622, is called the Hejira by the Arabs, It was taken by his fol- 
lowers as the beginning of a new era — the year One, as the 
Mohammedans reckon time. 

499. Islam and the Koran. A war followed between the people 
of Mecca and those who had joined Mohammed in and about 
Medina, It was eight years before his followers became numerous 
enough to enable him to march upon Mecca and take it with a 
victorious army. Before his death in 632 he had gained the sup- 
port of all the Arab chiefs, and his new religion, which he called 
Islam (meaning "reconciliation"; by which he meant reconcilia- 
tion to Allah, the sole God), was accepted throughout the whole 
Arabian peninsula. The new believers he called Muslims, or, 
as we spell it, Moslems, meaning " the reconciled," By us they 
are often called Mohammedans, after their prophet. 

Mohammed could probably neither write nor read well, but 
when he fell into trances from time to time he would repeat to his 
eager listeners the words which he heard from heaven, and they in 
turn wrote them down. These sayings, which were collected into 
a volume shortly after his death, form the Koran, the Moham- 
medan Bible. This contains the chief beliefs of the new religion as 
well as the laws under which all good Mohammedans were to live. 

The Koran announces a day of judgment when the heavens 
shall be opened and the mountains be powdered and become 



324 



History of Europe 



like flying dust. Then all men shall receive their reward. Those 
who have refused to accept Islam shall be banished to hell to 
be burned and tormented forever. ''They shall not taste therein 
coolness or drink, save scalding water and running sores," and 
the scalding water they shall drink like thirsty camels. 

Those, on the other hand, who have obeyed the Koran, es- 
pecially those who die fighting for Islam, shall find themselves in 




Fig. 8i. A Bird's-eye View of Mecca and its Mosque 

Mecca is one of the few towns in the barren Arabian peninsula, for by far the 
great majority of the Arabs hve as roving shepherds (§ 60) and not in towns^ 
Mecca had been a sacred place long before the time of Mohammed, and the 
people had been accustomed to come there as pilgrims to do homage to a 
sacred black stone called the Kaaba. Mohammed did not interfere with these 
customs. After his death the Moslems built a large court around the Kaaba. 
Over the Kaaba they erected a square shelter, which we see in the middle 
of the court. To this place the Moslem believers still come in great numbers 

as pilgrims every year 



a garden of delight. They shall recline in rich brocades upon 
soft cushions and rugs and be served by surpassingly beautiful 
maidens, with eyes like hidden pearls. Wine may be drunk there, 
but "their heads shall not ache with it, neither shall they be 
confused." They shall be content with their past life and shall 
hear no foolish words ; and there shall be no sin but only the 
greeting, "Peace, peace." 



The Monks and their Missionary Work 



325 



The religion of Moham- 
med was much simpler than 
that of the medieval Chris- 
tian Church ; it did not pro- 
vide for a priesthood or for 
any great number of cere- 
monies. The Mohammedan 
mosque, or temple, is a 
house of prayer and a place 
for reading the Koran ; no 
altars or images or pictures 
of any kind are permitted 
in it. The mosques are often 
very beautiful buildings, 
especially in great Moham- 
medan cities such as Jeru- 
salem, Damascus, Cairo, and 
Constantinople. They have 
great courts surrounded by 
covered colonnades and are 
adorned with beautiful 
marbles and mosaics and de- 
lightful windows with bright 
stained glass. The walls are 
adorned with passages from 
the Koran, and the floors 
covered with rich rugs. They 
have one or more minarets, 
from which the call to prayer 
is heard five times a day. 

500. Rise of the Oriental 
Empire of the Moslems. 
The Moslem leaders who 
succeeded to Mohammed's 
power were called caliphs. 
As rulers, they proved to 




Fig. 82. A Page of a Manuscript 

Copy of the Koran, the Bible of 

THE Moslems 

This writing has descended from the 
ancient alphabet of the Phoenicians 
(§ 140), and, like the Phoenician writing, 
it is still written and read from right to 
left. The Arab writers love to give their 
letters decorative flourishes, producing 
a handsome page. The rich, decorative 
border is a good example of Moslem art. 
The whole page was done by hand. In 
such hand-written books as these the 
educated Moslems wrote out translations 
of the books of the great Greek phi- 
losophers and scientists, like Aristotle. 
At the same time the Moslems wrote 
their own treatises on algebra, astron- 
omy, grammar, and other sciences in 
similar books. These books later came 
to the knowledge of Western Christian 
scholars, who learned much from them 



326 



History of Europe 




Fig. 83. Moorish Mosque 
Tower, OR Minaret, IN Spain 

This tower in Seville was built, 
not long before a.d. 1200, out of 
the ruins of Roman and West 
Gothic buildings found here by 
the Moors, and blocks bearing 
Latin inscriptions are to be seen 
in a number of places in its walls. 
After extensive alterations at the 
top by Christian architects, it was 
converted into the bell tower of 
a Christian church 

at Bagdad beside the New 
They built of course under 



be men of the greatest ability. They 
organized the untamed desert nomads, 
who now added a burning religious 
zeal to the wild courage of barbarian 
Arabs. This combination made the 
Arab armies of the caliphs irresist- 
ible. Within a few years after 
Mohammed's death they took Egypt 
and Syria from the feeble successors 
of Justinian at Constantinople. They 
thus reduced the Eastern Empire to 
little more than the Balkan Penin- 
sula and Asia Minor. At the same 
time the Arabs crushed the empire 
of the New Persians (§ 432) and 
brought the Sassanian line of kings 
to an end (a.d. 640), after it had 
lasted a little over four hundred 
years. Thus the Moslems built up 
a great oriental empire, with its 
center at the east end of the Fertile 
Crescent, 

501. The Nomad Arabs learn 
City Civilization along the Fertile 
Crescent. Just as the people of 
Sargon and Hammurapi took over 
the city civilization which they found 
along the lower Euphrates (§ 68), 
so now in the same region the Mos- 
lem Arabs of the desert took over 
the city civilization of the New Per- 
sians. With the ruins of Babylon 
looking down upon them, the Mos- 
lems built their splendid capital 

Persian royal residence of Ctesiphon. 

the influence of the ancient structures 




Street Scene in Cairo 



■-^((^^J'^^^^ 




o 

si 
< 
a 
> 



H 
D 
O 

S3 
< 



a 

w 

H 



(/: 

o 
u 

z 

a 

< 

X 

o 






328 History of Europe 

of Egypt, Babylon, Persia, and Assyria. Here, as Sargon's people 
and as the Persians had so long before done, the once wandering 
Arabs learned to read and write and could thus put the Koran 
into writing. Here too they learned the business of government 
and became experienced rulers. Thus beside the shapeless mounds 
of the older capitals, Akkad, Babylon, and Ctesiphon, the power 
and civilization of the Orient rose into new life for the last 
time. Bagdad became the finest city of the East and one of the 
most splendid in the world. The caliphs extended their power 
eastward to the frontiers of India. 

502. The Moslem Advance to the West ; the Battle of 
Tours. Westward the Moslems pushed along the African coast 
of the Mediterranean, as their Phoenician kindred had done before 
them (§ 139). It was the Moslem overthrow of Carthage and 
its bishop which now relieved the bishop of Rome (the Pope) 
of his only dangerous rival in the West. Only two generations 
after the death of Mohammed the Arabs crossed over from Africa 
into Spain (a.d. 711). Here they overthrew the feeble kingdom 
of the West Goths (§455) ; then they moved on into France and 
threatened to girdle the entire Mediterranean. At the battle of 
Tours (a.d. 732), however, just a hundred years after the death 
of Mohammed, the Moslems were unable to crush the Prankish 
army under their leader, Charles the Hammer (§ 504). They 
withdrew permanently from France into Spain, where they estab- 
lished a western Moslem kingdom, which we call Moorish. 

503. Leadership of Moslem Civilization. The Moorish king- 
dom developed a civilization far higher than that of the Franks, 
and, indeed, the highest in Europe of that age. Thus while Eu- 
rope was sinking into the ignorance of the Middle Ages, the 
Moslems were the leading students of science, astronomy, mathe- 
matics, and grammar. There was soon much greater knowledge 
of these matters among the Moslems than in Christian Europe. 
Such Arabic words as algebra and our numerals, which we received 
from the Arabs, suggest to us how much we owe to them. 

Some of the buildings which they erected soon after their 
arrival still stand. Among these is the mosque at Cordova with 



The Monks and their Missionary Work 329 

its forest of columns and arches/ They also erected a great tower 
at Seville (Fig. 83). This has been copied by the architects of 
Madison Square Garden in New York. The Mohammedans built 
beautiful palaces and laid out charming gardens. One of these 
palaces, the Alhambra, built at Granada some centuries after their 
arrival in Spain, is a marvel of lovely detail (Fig. 80). They also 
founded a great university at Cordova, to which Christians from 
the North sometimes went in search of knowledge. 

Historians commonly regard it as a matter of great good luck 
that Charles the Hammer and his barbarous soldiers succeeded 
in defeating and driving back the Mohammedans at Tours. But 
had they been permitted to settle in southern France they might 
have developed science and art far more rapidly than did the 
Franks. It is difficult to say whether it was a good thing or a 
bad thing that the Moors, as the Mohammedans in Spain were 
called, did not get control of a portion of Gaul. 

QUESTIONS 

I. What various reasons led men to enter monasteries ? When and 
where did Christian monasteries originate ? Give some of the chief 
provisions of St. Benedict's Rule. Why did the monks sometimes 
devote part of their time to copying books ? Describe the general 
plan of a monastery. 

II. Tell about the conversion of the king of Kent. Did England 
become a part of the medieval Catholic Church ? 

III. Give a short account of Mohammed's life. Define Kaaba, 
Islam, Koran. What countries did the Mohammedans conquer during 
the century following Mohammed's death ? Where is Mecca, Bagdad, 
Damascus, Cordova ? Tell what you can of the Moorish buildings 
in Spain. 

. 1 The great mosque, which the Mohammedan rulers built at Cordova (Fig. 79) on 
the site of a Christian church of the West Goths, was second in size only to the Kaaba 
at Mecca (Fig. 81). It was begun about 785 and gradually enlarged and beautified dur- 
ing the following two centuries, with the hope that it would rival Mecca as a place of 
pilgrimage. The part represented in the illustration was built by Caliph Al-Hakim, who 
came to the throne in 961. The beautiful holy of holies (the entrance of which may 
be seen in the background) is richly adorned with magnificent mosaics. The whole 
mosque is five hundred and seventy by four hundred snd twenty-five feet ; that is, about 
the size of St. Peter's in Rome, 



CHAPTER XXIII 
CHARLEMAGNE AND fflS EMPIRE 

I. Conquests of Charlemagne 

504. How Pippin became King of the Franks (752). We have 
seen how the kings of the Franks, Clovis and his successors, con- 
quered a large territory, including western Germany and what 
is called France to-day. As time went on, the king's chief min- 
ister, who was called the Mayor of the Palace, got almost all 
the power into his hands and really ruled in the place of the 
king. Charles the Hammer, who defeated the Mohammedans at 
Tours in 732 (§502), was the Mayor of the Palace of the western 
Prankish king. His son, Pippin the Short, finally determined to do 
away altogether with the old line of kings and put himself in their 
place. Before taking the decisive step, however, he consulted 
the Pope, who gave his approval. With this sanction from Rome 
(752) the Prankish counts and dukes, in accordance with the 
old German ceremony, raised Pippin on their shields, in some- 
what the way college boys nowadays carry off a successful football 
player on their shoulders. He was then anointed king by St. Boni- 
face, the apostle to the Germans, of whom we have spoken, and 
received the blessing of the Pope.^ 

It would hardly be necessary to mention this change of dynasty 
in so short a history as this were it not that the calling in of the 
Pope brought about a revolution in the ideas of kingship. The 
kings of the German tribes had hitherto usually been successful 
warriors who held their office with the consent of the people, 
or at least of the nobles. Their election was not a matter that 
concerned the Church at all. But when, after asking the Pope's 

1 The old line of kings which was displaced by Pippin is known as the Merovingian 
line. Pippin and his successors are called the Carolingian line. 



Charlemagne and his Empire 331 

opinion, Pippin had the holy oil poured on his head, — in ac- 
cordance with an ancient religious custom of the Jews, — first by 
Bishop Boniface (§ 497) and later by the Pope, he seemed to ask 
the Church to approve his usurpation. As the historian Gibbon 
puts it, "A German chieftain was transformed into the Lord's 
anointed." The Pope threatened with God's anger anyone who 
. should attempt to supplant the consecrated family of Pippin. 

It thus became a religious duty to obey the king and his suc- 
cessors. He came to be regarded by the Church, when he had 
received its approval, as God's representative on earth. Here 
we have the beginning of the later theory of kings " by the grace 
of God," against whom it was a sin to revolt, however bad they 
might be. We shall see presently how Pippin's famous son 
Charlemagne received his crown from the hands of the Pope. 

505. Charlemagne (ca. 742-814). Charlemagne, who became 
king of all the Prankish realms in 771, is the first historical per- 
sonage among the German peoples of whom we have any satis- 
factory knowledge.^ Compared with him, Theodoric, Clovis, 
Charles the Hammer, Pippin, and the rest are but shadowy figures. 

Charlemagne's looks, as described by his secretary, so exactly 
correspond with the character of the king as exhibited in his 
reign that they are worthy of attention. He was tall and stoutly 
built ; his face was round, his eyes were large and keen, his 
expression bright and cheerful. His voice was clear, but rather 
weak for his big body. He delighted in riding and hunting and 
was an expert swimmer. His excellent health and his physical 
endurance can alone explain the astonishing swiftness with which 
he moved about his vast realm and conducted innumerable cam- 
paigns against his enemies in widely distant regions in rapid 
succession. 

Charlemagne was an educated man for his time, and one who 
knew how to appreciate and encourage scholarship. While at 

1 " Charlemagne " is the French form for the Latin Carolus Magnus (Charles the 
Great). We must never forget, however, that Charlemagne was not French; he 
talked a German language, namely Frankish, and his favorite palaces at Aix-la-Chapelle, 
Ingelheim, and Nimwegen were in German regions. 



332 History of Europe 

dinner he had someone read to him ; he delighted especially in 
history. He tried to learn writing, which was an unusual accom- 
plishment at that time for any except churchmen, but began too 
late in life and got no farther than signing his name. He called 
learned men to his court and did much toward reestablishing a 
regular system of schools. 

The impression which his reign made upon men's minds con- 
tinued to grow even after his death. He became the hero of a 
whole series of romantic adventures which were as firmly believed 
for centuries as his real deeds. A study of Charlemagne's reign 
will make clear that he was truly a remarkable person, one of the 
greatest figures in the world's records and deservedly the hero 
of the Middle Ages. 

506. Charlemagne's Idea of a Great Christian Empire. It 
was Charlemagne's ideal to bring all the German peoples together 
into one great Christian empire, and he was wonderfully success- 
ful in attaining his end. Only a small portion of what is now 
called Germany was included in the kingdom ruled over by Charle- 
magne's father, Pippin the Short. Frisia and Bavaria had been 
Christianized, and their rulers had been induced by the efforts 
of Charlemagne's predecessors and of the missionaries, especially 
Boniface, to recognize the overlordship of the Franks. Between 
these two half-independent countries lay the unconquered Saxons. 
They were as yet pagans and appear still to have clung to much 
the same institutions as those under which they had lived when the 
Roman historian Tacitus described them seven centuries earlier. 

507. The Conquest of the Saxons. The Saxons occupied the 
region beginning somewhat east of Cologne and extending to the 
Elbe, and north to where the great cities of Bremen and Ham- 
burg are now situated. They had no towns or roads and were 
consequently very difficult to conquer, as they could retreat, with 
their few possessions, into the forests or swamps as soon as they 
found themselves unable to meet an invader in the open field. 
Yet so long as they remained unconquered they constantly threat- 
ened the Frankish kingdom, and their country was necessary to the 
rounding out of its boundaries. Charlemagne never undertook, 



Charlemagne and his Empire 333 

during his long military career, any other task half so serious as 
the subjugation of the Saxons, which occupied many years, 

Charlemagne believed the Christianizing of the Saxons so 
important a part of his duty that he decreed that anyone should 
suffer death who broke into a church and carried off anything 
by force. No one, under penalty of heavy fines, was to make 
vows, in the pagan fashion, at trees or springs, or partake of any 
heathen feasts in honor of the demons (as the Christians termed 
the heathen gods), or fail to present infants for baptism before 
they were a year old. 

These provisions are characteristic of the theory of the Middle 
Ages, according to which the government and the Church went 
hand in hand in ordering and governing the life of the people. 
Disloyalty to the Church was regarded by the State as quite as 
serious a crime as treason against itself. 

Before the Prankish conquest the Saxons had no towns. Now, 
around the seat of the bishop, or about a monastery, men be- 
gan to collect, and towns and cities grew up. Of these the chief 
was Bremen, which is still one of the most important ports of 
Germany. 

508. Charlemagne King of the Lombards. Summoned by 
the Pope to protect him from his old enemies the Lombards 
(§465), Charlemagne invaded Lombardy in 773 with a great 
army and took Pavia, the capital, after a long siege. The Lom- 
bard king was forced to become a monk, and his treasure was 
divided among the Prankish soldiers. Charlemagne then took the 
extremely important step, in 774, of having himself recognized 
by all the Lombard dukes and counts as king of the Lombards. 

509. Foreign Policy of Charlemagne. So far we have spoken 
only of the relations of Charlemagne with the Germans, for even 
the Lombard kingdom was established by the Germans. He had, 
however, other peoples to deal with, especially the Slavs on the 
east (who were one day to build up the kingdoms of Poland and 
Bohemia and the vast Russian empire, which is so important in 
world politics to-day). On the opposite boundary of his do- 
minion there were the Mohammedan Moors in Spain (§ 503), 



334 History of Europe 

Against these it was necessary to protect his realms, and the 
second part of Charlemagne's reign was devoted to what may be 
called his foreign policy. A single campaign in 789 seems to 
have sufficed to subdue the Slavs, who lay to the north and east 
of the Saxons, and to force the Bohemians to acknowledge the 
supremacy of the Prankish king and pay tribute to him. 

At an assembly that Charlemagne held in 777, ambassadors 
appeared before him from certain dissatisfied Mohammedans 
in Spain. They had fallen out with the emir of Cordova^ and 
now offered to become the faithful subjects of Charlemagne if 
he would come to their aid. In consequence of this embassy 
he undertook his first expedition to Spain in the following year. 
After some years of war the district north of the Ebro was 
conquered by the Franks. In this way Charlemagne began that 
gradual expulsion of the Mohammedans from the peninsula, which 
was to be carried on by slowly extending conquests until 1492, 
when Granada, the last Mohammedan stronghold, fell (§718). 

II. Establishment of a Line of Emperors in the West 

510. Charlemagne crowned Emperor by the Pope. But 

the most famous of all the achievements of Charlemagne was 
his reestablishment of the Western Empire in the year 800. It 
came about in this wise. Charlemagne went to Rome in that 
year to settle a dispute between Pope Leo III and his enemies. 
To celebrate the satisfactory settlement of the dispute the Pope 
held a solemn service on Christmas Day in St. Peter's. As Charle- 
magne was kneeling before the altar during this service the Pope 
approached him and set a crown upon his head, saluting him, 
amid the acclamations of those present, as ''Emperor of the 
Romans." 

The reasons for this extraordinary act, which Charlemagne in- 
sisted took him completely by surprise, are given in one of the 

1 The Mohammedan caliphate broke up in the eighth century, and the ruler of Spain 
first assumed the title of emir (about 756) and later (929) that of caliph. The latter title 
had originally been enjoyed only by the head of the whole Arab empire, who had his 
capital at Damascus and later at Bagdad. 



Charlemagne and his Empire 335 

Prankish histories, the Chronicles of Lorsch, as follows : " The 
name of Emperor had ceased among the Greeks, for they were 
under the reign of a woman [the Empress Irene], wherefore it 
seemed good both to Leo, the apostolic pope, and to the bishops 
who were in council with him, and to all Christian men, that they 
should name Charles, King of the Franks, as Emperor. For he 
held Rome itself, where the ancient Caesars had always dwelt, in 
addition to all his other possessions in Italy, Gaul, and Germany. 
Wherefore, as God had granted him all these dominions, it 
seemed just to all that he should take the title of Emperor, 
too, when it was offered to him at the wish of all Christendom." 

Charlemagne appears to have accepted gracefully the honor 
thus thrust upon him. Even if he had no right to the imperial 
title, it was obviously proper and wise to grant it to him under 
the circumstances. Before his coronation by the Pope he was 
only king of the Franks and of the Lombards ; but his con- 
quests seemed to give him a right to a higher title which should 
include all his outlying realms. 

511. Continuity of the Roman Empire. The empire thus 
reestablished in the West was considered to be a continuation of 
the Roman Empire founded by Augustus. Charlemagne was 
reckoned the immediate successor of the emperor at Constanti- 
nople, Constantine VI, whom Irene had deposed and blinded. 
Yet it is hardly necessary to say that the position of the new 
emperor had little in common with that of Augustus or Con- 
stantine. In the first place, the Eastern emperors continued to 
reign in Constantinople for centuries, quite regardless of Charle- 
magne and his successors. In the second place, the German 
kings who wore the imperial crown after Charlemagne were 
generally too weak really to rule over Germany and northern 
Italy, to say nothing of the rest of western Europe. Nevertheless, 
the Western Empire, which in the twelfth century came to be 
called the Holy Roman Empire, endured for over a thousand 
years. It came to an end only in 1806, when the last of the 
emperors, wearied of his empty if venerable title, laid down 
the crown. 



336 History of Europe 

The assumption of the title of emperor was destined to make 
the German rulers a great deal of trouble. It constantly led 
them into unsuccessful efforts to keep control over Italy, which 
really lay outside their natural boundaries. Then the circum- 
stances under which Charlemagne was crowned made it possible 
for the popes to claim, later, that it was they who had transferred 
the imperial power from the old eastern line of emperors to Charle- 
magne and his family, and that this was a proof of their right to 
dispose of the crown as they pleased. The difficulties which arose 
necessitated many a weary journey to Rome for the emperors, 
and many unfortunate conflicts between them and the popes. The 
long struggles between the German kings and the popes will be 
described in a later chapter (XXVI). 

III. How Charlemagne carried on his Government 

512. Difficulty of governing so Large an Empire. The 
task of governing his vast dominions taxed even the highly gifted 
and untiring Charlemagne ; it was quite beyond the power of his 
successors. The same difficulties continued to exist that had 
confronted Charles the Hammer and Pippin — above all, a scanty 
royal revenue and overpowerful officials, who were apt to neglect 
the interests and commands of their sovereign. 

Charlemagne's income, like that of all medieval rulers, came 
chiefly from his royal estates, as there was no system of general 
taxation such as had existed under the Roman Empire. He 
consequently took the greatest care that his numerous planta- 
tions should be well cultivated, and that not even a turnip or an 
egg which was due him should be withheld. An elaborate set of 
regulations for his farms is preserved, which sheds much light 
upon the times. 

513. Origin of Titles of Nobility. The officials upon whom 
the Prankish kings were forced to rely chiefly were the counts, 
the "hand and voice of the king" wherever he could not be in 
person. They were expected to maintain order, see that justice 
was done in their district, and raise troops when the king needed 



Charlemagne and his Empire 337 

them. On the frontier were the counts of the " march," ^ or mar- 
graves (marquises) . These titles, together with that of duke, still 
exist as titles of nobility in Europe, although they are no longer as- 
sociated with any governmental duties except in cases where their 
holders have the right to sit in the upper House of Parliament. 

514. The Dark Century before Charlemagne. Charlemagne 
was the first important king since Theodoric to pay any atten- 
tion to book learning. About 650 the supply of papyrus — the 
kind of paper that the Greeks and Romans used — had been 
cut off, owing to the conquest of Egypt by the Arabs, and as 
our kind of paper had not yet been invented, there was only 
the very expensive parchment to write upon. While this had the 
advantage of being more durable than papyrus, its high cost 
discouraged the copying of books. The eighth century ^ — that im- 
mediately preceding Charlemagne's coronation — is commonly re- 
garded as the most ignorant, the darkest, and the most barbarous 
period of the Middle Ages. 

Yet, in spite of this dark picture, there was promise for the 
future. It was evident, even before Charlemagne's time, that 
Europe was not to continue indefinitely in the path of ignorance. 
Latin could not be forgotten, for that was the language of the 
Church, and all its official communications were in that tongue. 
Consequently it was absolutely necessary that the Church should 
maintain some sort of education in order that there might be 
persons who knew enough to write a Latin letter and conduct 
the church services. Some of those who learned Latin must 
have used it to read the old books written by the Romans. Then 
the textbooks of the later Roman Empire (§ 460) continued to 
be used, and these, poor as they were, contained something about 
grammar, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and other subjects. 

515. Establishment of Schools. It seemed to Charlemagne 
that it was the duty of the Church not only to look after the 
education of its own officers but to provide the opportunity of 
at least an elementary education for the people at large. In 

^ This word meant territories on the boundaries of the Empire which were open to 
invasion. 



338 History of Europe 

accordance with this conviction he issued (789) an order to the 
clergy to gather together the children of both freemen and serfs 
in their neighborhood and establish schools "in which the boys 
may learn to read." 

It would be impossible to say how many of the abbots and 
bishops established schools in accordance with Charlemagne's 
recommendations. It is certain that famous centers of learning 
existed at Tours, Fulda, Corbie, Orleans, and other places during 
his reign. Charlemagne further promoted the cause of education 
by the establishment of the famous "School of the Palace" for 
the instruction of his own children and the sons of his nobles. 
He placed the Englishman Alcuin at the head of the school and 
called distinguished men from Italy and elsewhere as teachers. 

516. Decline in Education after Charlemagne's Time. The 
hopeful beginning that was made under Charlemagne in the 
revival of education was destined to prove disappointing in its 
immediate results. It is true that the ninth century produced 
a few noteworthy men who have left works which indicate ability 
and mental training. But the break-up of Charlemagne's empire, 
the struggles between his descendants, the coming of new bar- 
barians, and the disorder caused by the unruly feudal lords, who 
were not inclined to recognize any master, all combined to keep 
Europe back for at least two centuries more. Indeed, the tenth 
century and the first half of the eleventh seem, at first sight, little 
better than the seventh and the eighth. Yet ignorance and dis- 
order never were quite so prevalent after Charlemagne as they 
were before, 

QUESTIONS 

I. Explain the importance of the coronation of Pippin. Describe 
Charlemagne's appearance and character. How did Charlemagne for- 
ward the interests of the Church in his efforts to incorporate the Saxons 
in his empire ? 

II. What led to Charlemagne's becoming emperor ? What modem 
countries did his empire include ? 

III. What were the chief sources of Charlemagne's revenue ? How 
did titles of nobiUty originate in medieval Europe ? What did Charle- 
magne do for education? 



CHAPTER XXiy 
THE AGE OF DISORDER; FEUDALISM 

I. The Disruption of Charlemagne's Empire 

517. Division of Charlemagne's Empire. It was a matter of 
great importance to Europe whether Charlemagne's extensive 
empire held together or fell apart after his death in 814. He 
does not seem to have had any expectation that it would hold 
together, because some years before his death he arranged that 
it should be divided among his three sons. But as two of these 
died before he did, it fell into the hands of the only surviving 
son, Louis, who succeeded his august father as king of all the 
various parts of the Prankish domains and was later crowned 
emperor. 

Louis, called "the pious," proved a feeble ruler. He tried all 
sorts of ways of dividing the Empire peaceably among his rebel- 
lious and unruly sons, but he did not succeed, and after his 
death they, and their sons as well, continued to fight over the 
question of how much each should have. It is not necessary 
to speak of the various temporary arrangements that were made. 
Finally it was agreed in 870, by the Treaty of Mersen, that there 
should be three states, a West Frankish kingdom, an East Frank- 
ish kingdom, and a kingdom of Italy. The West Frankish realm 

339 



340 



History of Europe 



corresponded roughly with the present boundaries of France and 
Belgium. Its people talked dialects derived from the spoken 
Latin, which the Romans had introduced after their army, under 
the command of Julius Caesar, conquered Gaul (§367). The 
East Prankish kingdom included the rest of Charlemagne's em- 
pire outside of Italy and was German in language and customs. 




Map of Treaty of Mersen 

This map shows the division of Charlemagne's empire made in 870 by his 
descendants in the Treaty of Mersen 

518. Obstacles to maintaining Order. Each of the three 
realms established by the Treaty of Mersen was destined finally 
to grow into one of the powerful modern states which we see on 
the map of Europe to-day, but hundreds of years elapsed before 
^ the kings grew strong enough to control their subjects, and the 
Treaty of Mersen was followed by several centuries of constant 
disorder and local warfare. Let us consider the difficulties which 
stood in the way of peace. 

In the first place, a king found it very hard to get rapidly 
from one part of his realms to another in order to put down 



The Age of Disorder ; Feudalism 341 

rebellions, for the remarkable roads which the Romans had so 
carefully constructed to enable their armies to move about had 
fallen into disrepair, and floods had carried away the bridges. 

In the East Frankish kingdom matters must have been worse 
than in the West Frankish realm, for the Romans had never con- 
quered Germany and consequently no good roads had ever been 
constructed there. 

Besides the difficulty of getting about quickly and easily, the 
king had very little money. This was one of the chief troubles 
of the Middle Ages. There are not many gold or silver mines 
in western Europe, and there was no supply of precious metals 
from outside, for commerce had largely died out. So the king 
had no treasury from which to pay the many officials which an 
efficient government finds it necessary to employ to do its busi- 
ness and to keep order. He had to give his officers — ^the counts, 
dukes, and margraves (§ 513) — land instead of money, and their 
land was so extensive that they tended to become rulers them- 
selves within their own possessions. 

519. New Invasions. In addition to the weakness and pov- 
erty of the kings there was another trouble, — and that the worst 
of all, — namely, the constant new invasions from all directions 
which kept all three parts of Charlemagne's empire, and England 
besides, in a constant state of terror and disaster. These in- 
vasions were almost as bad as- those which had occurred before 
Charlemagne's time ; they prevented western Europe from be- 
coming peaceful and prosperous, and serve to explain the dark 
period of two hundred years which followed the break-up of 
Charlemagne's empire. 

We know how the Mohammedans had got possession of 
northern Africa and then conquered Spain, and how Charles the 
Hammer had frustrated their attempt to add Gaul to their 
possessions (§502). But this rebuff did not end their attacks 
on southern Europe. They got control of the island of Sicily 
shortly after Charlemagne's death and then began to terrorize 
Italy and southern France. Even Rome itself suffered from them. 
The picture on page 342 shows how the people of Aries, in 



342 History of Europe 

southern France, built their houses inside the old Roman amphi- 
theater in order to protect themselves from these Mohammedan 
invaders. 

On the east the German rulers had constantly to contend with 
the Slavs. Charlemagne had defeated them in his time, as men- 
tioned above, but they continued to make much trouble for two 
centuries at least. Then there were also the Hungarians, a 




Fig. 84. Amphitheater at Arles in the Middle Ages 

The great Roman amphitheater at Aries (built probably in the first or second 
century) is about fifteen hundred feet in circumference. During the eighth 
century, when the Mohammedans were invading southern France, it was con- 
verted into a fortress. Many of the inhabitants settled inside its walls, and 
towers were constructed, which still stand. The picture shows it before the 
dwellings were removed, about 1830 

savage race from Asia, who ravaged Germany and northern Italy 
and whose wild horsemen penetrated even into the West Prankish 
kingdom. Finally they were driven back eastward and settled 
in the country now named after them — Hungary. 

520. The Northmen. Lastly there came the Northmen, 
bold and adventurous pirates from the shores of Denmark, 
Sweden, and Norway. These skillful and daring seamen not 
only attacked the towns on the coast of the West Frankish king- 
dom but made their way up the rivers, plundering and burning 
the villages and towns as far inland as Paris. In England we 



The Age of Disorder ; Feudalism 343 

shall find them, under the name of Danes, invading the country 
and forcing Alfred the Great to recognize them as the masters 
of northern England.^ 

So there was danger always and everywhere. If rival nobles 
were not fighting one another, there were foreign invaders of 
some kind devastating the country, bent on robbing, maltreat- 
ing, and enslaving the people whom they found in towns and 
villages and monasteries. No wonder that strong castles had to 
be built and the towns surrounded by walls ; even the mon- 
asteries, which were not of course respected by pagan invaders, 
were in some cases protected by fortifications. 

521. Power and Independence of the Great Landowners. 
In the absence of a powerful king with a well-organized army at 
his back, each district was left to look out for itself. Doubtless 
many counts, margraves, bishops, and other great landed pro- 
prietors, who were gradually becoming independent princes, 
earned the loyalty of the people about them by taking the lead 
in defending the country against its invaders and by establishing 
fortresses as places of refuge when the community was hard 
pressed. These conditions serve to explain why such government 
as continued to exist during the centuries following the death of 
Charlemagne was necessarily carried on mainly not by the king 
and his officers but by the great landholders. 

II. The Medieval Castle 

522. The Medieval Castle. As one travels through England, 
France, or Germany to-day he often comes upon the picturesque 
ruins of a medieval castle perched upon some rocky cliff and 
overlooking the surrounding country for miles. As he looks at 
the thick m»11s, often surrounded by a deep, wide trench once 
filled with water, and observes the great towers with their tiny 
windows, he cannot but wonder why so many of these forts were 
built and why people lived in them. 

1 These Scandinavian pirates are often called vikings, from their habit of leaving theit 
long boats in the vik, which meant, in their language, "bay" or "inlet." 



344 



History of Europe 



Obviously, whoever lived there was in constant expectation of 
being attacked by an army, for otherwise he would never have 
gone to the trouble and expense of shutting himself up in those 
dreary, cold, stone rooms, behind walls from ten to twenty feet 
thick. We can picture the great hall of the castle crowded with 
the armed followers of the master of the house, ready to fight 
for him when he wished to make war on a neighbor ; or if he 




Fig. 85. Machine for hurling Stones 

This machine was a medieval device for throwing stones and bolts of iron, 
which were often heated red hot before they were fired. It consisted of a 
great bow {A) and the beam (B), which was drawn back by the windlass (C) 
turned by a crank applied at the point (D). Then a stone was put in the 
pocket {F) and the trigger pulled by means of the string {£). This let the beam 
fly up with a bang against the bumper, and the missile went sailing against the 
wall or over it among the defenders of the castle 



himself were attacked they would rush to the little windows and 
shoot arrows at those who tried to approach, or pour lighted 
pitch or melted lead down on their enemies. 

The Romans had been accustomed to build walls around their 
camps, and a walled camp was called castra ; and in such names 
as Rochester, Winchester, Gloucester, Worcester, we have re- 
minders of the fact that these towns were once fortresses. These 
camps, however, were all government fortifications and did not 
belong to private individuals. 



The Age of Disorder ; Feudalism 



345 



But as the Roman Empire grew weaker and the disorder 
caused by the incoming barbarians became greater, the various 
counts and dukes and even other large landowners began to 
build forts for themselves, 
usually nothing more than 
a great round mound of 
earth surrounded by a 
deep ditch and a wall 
made of stakes interwoven 
with twigs. On the top 
of the mound was a 
wooden fortress, sur- 
rounded by a fence or pali- 
sade similar to the one 
at the foot of the mound. 
This was the type of 
"castle" that prevailed 
for several centuries after 
the death of Charlemagne. 
There are no remains of 
these wooden castles in 
existence, for they were 
not the kind of thing to 
last very long, and those 
that escaped being burned 
or otherwise destroyed 
rotted away in time. 

About the year iioo 
these wooden buildings 
began to be replaced by 
great square stone towers. 
This was due to the fact 
that the methods of attacking castles had so changed that wood 
was no longer a sufficient protection. The Romans when they 
besieged a walled town were accustomed to hurl great stones 
and heavy, pointed stakes at the walls and over them. They had 




Fig. 86. Tower of Beaugency 

This square donjon, not far from Orleans, 
France, is one of the very eariiest square 
towers that survive. It is a reproduction in 
stone of the earUer wooden donjons. It was 
built about iioo, just after the First Crusade 
began. It is about seventy-six by sixty-six 
feet in area and one hundred and fifteen 
feet high 



346 History of Europe 

ingenious machines for this purpose. But the German barbarians 
who overran the Roman Empire were unaccustomed to these 
machines, which therefore had fallen into disuse. They were, 
however, introduced again from the Eastern Empire about the year 
1 100, and this is the reason why stone castles began to be built 
about that time. 

A square tower (Fig. 86) can, however, be more easily attacked 
than a round tower, which has no corners, so a century later round 
towers became the rule and continued to be used until about the 
year 1500, when gunpowder and cannon had become so common 
that even the strongest castle could no longer be defended, for it 
could not withstand the force of cannon balls. The accompanying 
pictures (Figs. 87 and 88) give an idea of the stone castles built 
from about iioo to 1450 or 1500. In Fig. 85 we can see how a 
stone-throwing machine, such as was used before the invention of 
cannon, was constructed and operated. 

523, General Arrangement of a Castle. When the castle 
was not on a steep rocky hill, which made it very hard to ap- 
proach, a deep ditch was constructed outside the walls, called the 
moat. This was filled with water and crossed by a bridge, which 
could be drawn up when the castle was attacked, leaving no way 
of getting across. The doorway was further protected by a grat- 
ing of heavy planks, called the portcullis, which could be quickly 
dropped down to close the entrance (Fig. 87). Inside the castle 
walls was the great donjon, or chief tower, which had several 
stories, although one would not suspect it from its plain exterior. 
There was sometimes also a fine hall, as at Coucy (Fig. 88), and 
handsome rooms for the use of the lord and his family, but some- 
times they lived in the donjon. There were buildings for storing 
supplies and arms, and usually a chapel. 

III. The Serfs and the Manor 

524. The Vil, or Manor. Obviously the owner of the castle 
had to obtain supplies to support his family and servants and 
armed men. He could not have done this had he not possessed 



The Age of Disorder ; Feudalism 



347 



"ftftrfi^^m 



extensive tracts of land. A great part of western Europe in the 
time of Charlemagne appears to have been divided into great 
estates or plantations. 

These medieval estates were called vils, or manors, and closely 
resembled the Roman villas which had existed in former centuries. 
The peasants who tilled the soil were called villains, a word 
derived from vil. A portion 
of the estate was reserved 
by the lord for his own 
use ; the rest of the plowed 
land was divided among 
the peasants, usually in 
long strips, of which each 
peasant had several scat- 
tered about the manor. 

525. Condition of the 
Serfs. The peasants were 
generally serfs, who did 
not own their fields, but 
could not, on the other 
hand, be deprived of them 
so long as they worked for 
the lord and paid him cer- 
tain dues. They were at- 
tached to the land and went 
with it when it changed 
hands. The serfs were re- 
quired to till those fields which the lord reserved for himself and 
to gather in his crops. They might not marry without their lord's 
permission. Their wives and daughters helped with the indoor 
work of the manor house. In the women's buildings the women 
serfs engaged in spinning, weaving, sewing, baking, and brewing, 
thus producing clothes, food, and drink for the whole community. 

We get our clearest ideas of the position of the serfs from the 
ancient descriptions of manors, which give an exact account of 
what each member of a particular community owed to the lord. 




Fig. 87. Fortified Gate of a 
Medieval Castle 

Here one can see the way in which the 
entrance to a castle was carefully pro- 
tected : the mbat [A) ; the drawbridge (B); 
the portcullis (C) 



348 History of Europe 

For example, we find that the abbot of Peterborough held a manor 
upon which Hugh Miller and seventeen other serfs, mentioned by 
name, were required to work for him three days in each week 
during the whole year, except one week at Christmas, one at 
Easter, and one at Whitsuntide. Each serf was to give the lord 
abbot one bushel of wheat and eighteen sheaves of oats, three 
hens, and one cock yearly, and five eggs at Easter. If he sold 
his horse for more than ten shillings, he was to give the said abbot 
fourpence. 

One of the most remarkable characteristics of the manor was 
its independence of the rest of the world. It produced nearly 
everything that its members needed and might almost have con- 
tinued to exist indefinitely without communication with those who 
lived beyond its bounds. Little or no money was necessary, for 
the peasants paid what was due to the lord in the form of labor 
and farm products. They also rendered the needful help to one 
another and found little occasion for buying and selling. 

There was almost no opportunity to better one's condition, and 
life must have gone on for generation after generation in a weary 
routine. The life was not merely monotonous, it was wretched. 
The food was coarse and there was little variety, as the peasants 
did not even take pains to raise fresh vegetables. The houses 
usually had but one room, which was ill-lighted by a single 
little window and had no chimney. 

526. Barter replaced by Money Transactions. The increased 
use of money in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, which came 
with the awakening trade and industry, tended to break up the 
manor. The old habit of trading one thing for another without 
the intervention of money began to disappear. As time went on, 
neither the lord nor the serf was satisfied with the old system, 
which had answered well enough in the time of Charlemagne. The 
serfs, on the one hand, began to obtain money by the sale of 
their products in the markets of neighboring towns. They soon 
found it more profitable to pay the lord a certain sum instead of 
working for him, for they could then turn their whole attention 
to their own farms. 




Fig. 88. Coucy-le-Chateau 

This castle of Coucy-le-Chateau was built by a vassal of the king of France in 
the thirteenth century. It was at the end of a hill and protected on all sides 
but one by steep cliffs. One can see the moat {A) and the double drawbridge 
and towers which protected the portal. The round donjon (B) was probably the 
largest in the world, one hundred feet in diameter and two hundred and ten 
feet high. At the base its walls were thirty-four feet thick. At the end of the 
inner court (C) was the residence of the lord (D). To the left of the court was 
a great hall and to the right were the quarters of the garrison. This ancient 
building was destroyed by the Germans during the recent World War 



350 History of Europe 

The landlords, on the other hand, found it to their advantage 
to accept money in place of the services of their tenants. With 
this money the landlord could hire laborers to cultivate his fields 
and could buy the luxuries which were brought to his notice as 
commerce increased. So it came about that the lords gradually 
gave up their control over the peasants, and there was no longer 
very much difference between the serf and the freeman who paid 
a regular rent for his land. A serf might also gain his liberty 
by running away from his manor to a town. If he remained un- 
discovered, or was unclaimed by his lord for a year and a day, 
he became a freeman.^ 

These manors served to support their lords and left them free 
to busy themselves fighting with other landowners in the same 
position as themselves. 

IV. Feudal System 

527. Gradual Development of Feudalism. Landholders who 
had large estates and could spare a portion of them were accus- 
tomed to grant some of their manors to another person on con- 
dition that the one receiving the land should swear to be true to 
the giver, should fight for him on certain occasions, and should 
lend him aid when particular difficulties arose. It was in this 
way that the relation of lord and vassal originated. The vassal 
who received the land pledged himself to be true to his lord, and 
the lord, on the other hand, not only let his vassal have the land 
but agreed to protect him when it was necessary. These arrange- 
ments between vassals and lords constituted what is called the 
feudal system. 

The feudal system, or feudalism, was not established by any 
decree of a king or in virtue of any general agreement between 

1 The slow extinction of serfdom in western Europe appears to have begun as early 
as the twelfth century. A very general emancipation had taken place in France by the 
end of the thirteenth century, though there were still some serfs in France when the 
Revolution came in 1789. Germany was far more backward in this respect. We find 
the peasants revolting against their hard lot in Luther's time (1524-1525), and it was not 
until the middle of the nineteenth century that all vestiges of serfdom disappeared 
in Prussia. 



The Age of Disorder ; Feudalism 351 

all the landowners. It grew up gradually and irregularly without 
any conscious plan on anyone's part, simply because it seemed 
convenient and natural under the circumstance's. The owner of 
vast estates found it to his advantage to parcel them out among 
vassals, that is to say, men who agreed to accompany him to war, 
guard his castle upon occasion, and assist him when he was put 
to any unusually great expense. Land granted upon the terms 
mentioned was called a fief. One who held a fief might himself 
become a lord by granting a portion of his fief to a vassal upon 
terms similar to those upon which he held his lands of his lord, 
or suzerain. The vassal of a vassal was called a subvassal. 

528. 'Homage and Fidelity. The one proposing to become a 
vassal knelt before the lord and rendered him homage ^ by placing 
his hands between those of the lord and declaring himself the 
lord's " man " for such and such a fief. Thereupon the lord gave 
his vassal the kiss of peace and raised him from his kneeling pos- 
ture. Then the vassal swore an oath of fidelity upon the Bible, or 
some holy relic, solemnly binding himself to fulfill all his duties 
toward his lord. This act of rendering homage by placing the 
hands in those of the lord and taking the oath of fidelity was the 
first and most essential duty of the vassal (Fig. 89) . For a vassal 
to refuse to do homage for his fief when it changed hands amounted 
to a declaration of revolt and independence. 

529. Feudal Obligations. The obligations of the vassal varied 
greatly. He was expected to join his lord when there was a 
military expedition on foot, although it was generally the case 
that the vassal need not serve at his own expense for more than 
forty days. 

Besides the military service due from the vassal to his lord, 
he was expected to attend the lord's court when summoned. There 
he sat with other vassals to hear and pronounce upon those cases 
in which his fellow vassals were involved. 

Under certain circumstances vassals had to make money pay- 
ments to their lord ; as, for instance, when the lord was put to 
extra expense by the necessity of knighting his eldest son or 

1 " Homage" is derived from the Latin word /lamo, meaning "man." 



352 



History of Europe 



providing a dowry for his daughter, or when he was captured 
by an enemy and was held for ransom. Lastly, the vassal might 
have to entertafn his lord should he be passing his castle. 
There are amusingly detailed accounts in some of the feudal 
contracts of exactly how often the lord might come, how many 
followers he might bring, and what he should have to eat. 

530. Various Kinds of 
Fiefs. There were fiefs of 
all kinds and of all grades 
of importance, from that of 
a duke or count, who held 
directly of the king and ex- 
ercised the powers of a prac- 
tically independent prince, 
down to the holding of the 
simple knight, whose bit of 
land, cultivated by peasants 
or serfs, was barely sufficient 
to enable him to support 
himself and provide the 
horse upon which he rode to 
perform his military service 
for his lord. 

It is essential to observe 
that the fief was not granted 
for a certain number of 
j^ears, or simply for the life 
of the grantee, to go back at his death to the owner. , On the con- 
trary, it became hereditary in the family of the vassal and passed 
down to the eldest son from one generation to another. So long as 
the vassal remained faithful to his lord and performed the stipulated 
services, and his successors did homage and continued to meet the 
conditions upon which the fief had originally been granted, neither 
the lord nor his heirs could rightfully regain possession of the land. 
The result was that little was left to the original owner of the 
fief except the services and dues to which the practical owner, 




Fig. 89. Ceremony of Homage 

This is a modern picture of the way in 
which the ceremony of homage took place. 
The new vassal is putting his hands be- 
tween those of his lord. To the left are 
retainers in their chain armor, and back 
of the lord and his lady is the jester, or 
court fool, whose business it is to amuse 
his master when he needs entertainment 



The Age of Disorder ; Feudalism 353 

the vassal, had agreed in receiving it. In short, the fief came 
really to belong to the vassal, and only the shadow of owner- 
ship remained in the hands of the lord. Nowadays the owner 
of land either makes some use of it himself or leases it for a 
definite period at a fixed money rent. But in the Middle Ages 
most of the land was held by those who neither really owned it 
nor paid a regular rent for it, and yet who could not be deprived 
of it by the nominal owner or his successors. 

531. Subvassals of the King not under his Control. Ob- 
viously the great vassals who held directly of the king became 
almost independent of him as soon as their fiefs were granted 
to them and their descendants. Their vassals, since they had not 
done homage to the king himself, often paid little attention to 
his commands. From the ninth to the thirteenth century the 
king of France or the king of Germany did not rule over a great 
realm occupied by subjects who owed him obedience as their 
lawful sovereign, paid him taxes, and were bound to fight under 
his banner as the head of the State. As a feudal landlord himself, 
the king had a right to demand fidelity and certain services from 
those who were his vassals. But the great mass of the people over 
whom he nominally ruled, whether they belonged to the nobility 
or not, owed little to the king directly, because they lived upon the 
lands of other feudal lords more or less independent of him. 

V. Neighborhood Warfare in the Middle Ages 

532. War the Law of the Feudal World. One has only to 
read a chronicle of the time to discover that brute force governed 
almost everything outside of the Church. The feudal obligations 
were not fulfilled except when the lord was sufficiently powerful 
to enforce them. The oath of fidelity was constantly broken, and 
faith was violated by both vassal and lord. 

• We may say that war, in all its forms, was the law of the 
feudal world. War formed the chief occupation of the restless 
nobles who held the land and were supposed to govern it. An 
enterprising vassal was likely to make war, first, upon each of 



354 History of Europe 

the lords to whom he had done homage ; secondly, upon the 
bishops and abbots with whom he was brought into contact, and 
whose control he particularly disliked ; thirdly, upon his fellow 
vassals ; and lastly, upon his own vassals. The feudal bonds, in- 
stead of offering a guarantee of peace and concord, appear to have 
been a constant cause of violent ill-feeling and conflict. Everyone 
was bent upon profiting to the full by the permanent or temporary 
weakness of his neighbor. 

In theory, the lord could force his vassals to settle their dis- 
putes in an orderly manner before his court ; but often he was 
neither able nor inclined to bring about a peaceful adjustment, 
and he would frequently have found it hard to enforce the 
decisions of his own court. So the vassals were left to fight out 
their quarrels among themselves, and they found their chief 
interest in life in so doing, 

533. Justs and Tourneys. Justs and tourneys were military 
exercises — play wars — to fill out the tiresome periods which 
occasionally intervened between real wars. They were, in fact, 
diminutive battles in which whole troops of hostile nobles some- 
times took part. These rough plays called down the condemna- 
tion of the popes and even of the kings. The latter, however, were 
much too fond of the sport themselves not to forget promptly their 
own prohibitions. 

534. The " Truce of God." The horrors of this constant fight- 
ing led the Church to try to check it. About the year looo several 
Church councils in southern France decreed that the fighters were 
not to attack churches or monasteries, churchmen, pilgrims, mer- 
chants, and women, and that they must leave the peasant and his 
cattle and plow alone. Then Church councils began to issue what 
was known as the " Truce of God," which provided that all war- 
fare was to stop during Lent and various other holy days as well 
as on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of every week. 
During the truce no one was to attack anyone else. Those be- 
sieging castles were to refrain from any assaults during the period 
of peace, and people were to be allowed to go quietly to and fro 
on their business without being disturbed by soldiers. 



The Age of Disorder ; Feudalism 355. 

If anyone failed to observe the truce, he was to be excommuni- 
cated by the Church — if he fell sick no Christian should dare to" 
visit him, and on his deathbed he was not to receive the comfort 
of a priest, and his soul was consigned to hell if he had refused 
to repent and mend his ways. It is hard to say how much good 
the Truce of God accomplished. Some of the bishops and even 
the heads of great monasteries liked fighting pretty well them- 
selves. It is certain that many disorderly lords paid little atten- 
tion to the truce and found three days a week altogether too short 
a time for plaguing their neighbors. 

535. The Kings finally get the Better of the Feudal Lords. 
Yet we must not infer that the State ceased to exist altogether 
during the centuries of confusion that followed the break-up of 
Charlemagne's empire, or that it fell entirely apart into little 
local governments independent of each other. In the first place, 
a king always retained some of his ancient majesty. He might 
be weak and without the means to enforce his rights and to 
compel his more powerful subjects to meet their obligations to- 
ward him. Yet he was, after all, the king, solemnly anointed by 
the Church as God's representative on earth. He Was always 
something more than a feudal lord. The kings were destined to 
get the upper hand before many centuries in England, France, 
and Spain, and finally in Italy and Germany, and to destroy the 
castles behind whose walls their haughty nobles had long defied 
the royal power. 

QUESTIONS 

I. What led to the breaking up of Charlemagne's empire ? What 
is the importance of the Treaty of Mersen ? What were the chief 
obstacles that prevented a king in the early Middle Ages from really 
controlling an extensive realm ? What invasions occurred in western 
Europe after Charlemagne's time ? Tell what you can of the Northmen. 

II. Describe the changes that took place during the Middle Ages 
in the method of constructing castles. Describe the arrangement of a 
castle. 

III. What was a manor, and what Roman institution did it re- 
semble ? What was a serf ? What were the chief services that a serf 



356 



History of Europe 



owed to his master ? What effect did the increased use of money have 
upon serfdom ? 

IV. Define "lord," "vassal," "fief," "homage," "feudalism." What 
services did a vassal owe to his lord ? What effects did feudalism have 
upon the power of the kings ? 

V. What is meant by neighborhood warfare ? Why was it very 
common in the Middle Ages ? What was the Truce of God ? 

Note. This castle of Pierrefonds, not very far from Paris, was built by the brother 
of the king of France, about 1400. It has been very carefully restored in modem times 
and gives one a good idea of the way in which the feudal lords of that period lived. 
Within the walls are a handsome central courtyard and magnificent apartments. 







CHAPTER XXV 
ENGLAND IN THE MIDDLE AGES 

I. The Norman Conquest 

536. Importance of England in the History of Western Eu- 
rope. The country of western Europe whose history is of greatest 
interest to English-speaking peoples is, of course, England. From 
England the United States and the vast English colonies have 
inherited their language and habits of thought, much of their 
literature, and many of their laws and institutions. In this 
volume it will not, however, be possible to study England except 
in so far as it has played a part in the general development of 
Europe. This it has greatly influenced by its commerce and 
industry and colonies, as well as by the example it was the first 
to set in modern times of permitting the people to share with the 
king in the government. 

The conquest of the island of Britain by the Angles and Saxons 
has already been spoken of, as well as the conversion of these 
pagans to Christianity by Augustine and his monks (§§ 494-496). 
The several kingdoms founded by the invaders were brought under 
the overlordship of the southern kingdom of Wessex by Egbert, 
a contemporary of Charlemagne. 

537. The Danes and Alfred the Great (87i-9oi). But no 
sooner had the long-continued invasions of the Angles and Saxons 
come to an end and the country been partially unified than the 
Northmen (or Danes, as the English called them), who were 
ravaging France (§ 520), began to make incursions into England. 
Before long they had conquered a large district north of the 
Thames and were making permanent settlements. They were de- 
feated, however, in a great battle by Alfred the Great, the first 
English king of whom we have any satisfactory knowledge. He 
forced the Danes to accept Christianity and established, as the 

357 



358 History of Europe 

boundary between their settlements and his own kingdom of 
Wessex, a Hne running from London across the island to Chester. 

538. England from Alfred to the Norman Conquest 
(901-1066). But more Danes kept coming, and the Danish in- 
vasions continued for more than a century after Alfred's death 
(901). Sometimes they were bought off by a money payment 
called the Danegeld, which was levied on the people of England 
like any other tax. But finally a Danish king (Cnut) succeeded 
in making himself king of England in 1017. This Danish dynasty 
maintained itself, however, for only a few years. Then a last 
weak Saxon king, Edward the Confessor, reigned for twenty years. 

Upon his death one of the greatest events in all English history 
occurred. The most powerful of the vassals of the king of France 
crossed the English Channel, conquered England, and made him- 
self king. This was William, Duke of Normandy. 

539. France in the Middle Ages. We have seen how Charle- 
magne's empire broke up, and how the feudal lords became so 
powerful that it was difficult for the king to control them. The 
West Prankish kingdom, which we shall hereafter call France, 
was divided among a great many dukes and counts, who built 
strong castles, gathered armies and fought against one another, 
and were the terror alike of priest, merchant, and laborer. (See 
above, §§ 517-521 and 532-534.) 

In the tenth century certain great fiefs, like Normandy, Brit- 
tany, Flanders, and Burgundy, developed into little nations, each 
under its line of able rulers. Each had its own particular customs 
and culture, some traces of which may still be noted by the 
traveler in France. These little feudal states were created by 
certain families of nobles who possessed exceptional energy or 
statesmanship. By conquest, purchase, or marriage they increased 
the number of their fiefs, and they insured their control over their 
vassals by promptly destroying the castles of those who refused 
to meet their obligations. 

540. Normandy. Of these subnations none w§s more impor- 
tant or interesting than Normandy. The Northmen had been the 
scourge of those who lived near the North Sea for many years 



England in the Middle Ages 359 

before one of their leaders, Rollo (or Hrolf), agreed in 911 to 
accept from the West Prankish king a district on the coast, north 
of Brittany, where he and his followers might peacefully settle. 
Rollo assumed the title of Duke of the Normans and introduced 
the Christian religion among his people. For a considerable time 
the newcomers kept up their Scandinavian habits and language. 
Gradually, however, they appropriated such culture as their 
neighbors possessed, and by the twelfth century their capital, 
Rouen, was one of the most enlightened cities of Europe. Nor- 
mandy became a source of infinite perplexity to the French kings 
when, in 1066, Duke William added England to his possessions 
and the title of " the Conqueror " to his name ; for he thereby 
became so powerful that his overlord, the king of France, could 
hardly hope to control the Norman dukes any longer. 

541. William lays Claim to England. William of Normandy 
claimed that he was entitled to the English crown, but we are 
somewhat in the dark as to the basis of his claim. There is a 
story that he had visited the court of Edward the Confessor and 
had become his vassal on condition that, should Edward die 
childless, he was to declare William his successor. However this 
may be, Harold of Wessex assumed the crown upon Edward's 
death and paid no attention to William's demand that he should 
surrender it. 

William thereupon appealed to the Pope, promising that if he 
came into possession of England he would see that the English 
clergy submitted to the authority of the Roman bishop. Conse- 
quently the Pope, Alexander II, condemned Harold and blessed 
in advance any expedition that William might undertake to secure 
his rights. The conquest of England therefore took on the 
character of a sort of holy war, and as the expedition had been 
well advertised, many adventurers flocked to William's standard. 
During the spring and summer of 1066 ships were building in 
the various Norman harbors for the purpose of carrying William's 
army across he Channel. 

542. Battle of Hastings (October, 1066). The English oc- 
cupied the hill of Senlac, west of Hastings, and awaited the 



36o 



History of Europe 




Fig. 90. Abbaye-aux-Dames, Caen 

William the Conqueror married a lady, Matilda, 
who was remotely related to him. This was 
against the rules of the Church, and he took 
pains to get the Pope's sanction to his marriage. 
But he and his queen were afraid that they might 
have committed a sin in marrying, so William 
built a monastery for men and Matilda a nunnery 
for women as a penance. The churches of these 
monasteries still stand in the Norman city of 
Caen. William was buried in his church. The 
picture represents the interior of Matilda's 
church and is a good example of what the 
English called the Norman style of architecture 

to induce a number of influential nobles 
agree to accept him as king, and London 
On Christmas Day, 1066, he was chosen 
Westminster Abbey and duly crowned. 



coming of the enemy. 
They had few horses 
and fought on foot 
with their battle-axes. 
The Normans had 
horses, which they 
had brought across in 
their ships, and were 
supplied with bows 
and arrows. The Eng- 
lish fought bravely 
and repulsed the Nor- 
mans as they tried to 
press up the hillside. 
But at last the Eng- 
lish were thrown into 
confusion, and King 
Harold was killed 
by a Norman arrow 
which pierced his eye. 
William thus de- 
stroyed the English 
army in this famous 
battle of Hastings, 
and the rightful Eng- 
lish king was dead. 
But the Norman duke 
was not satisfied to 
take possession of 
England as a con- 
queror merely. In a 
few weeks he managed 
and several bishops to 
opened its gates to him. 
king by an assembly in 



England in the Middle Ages 361 

543. William's Policy in England. William introduced the 
Norman feudalism to which he was accustomed, but took good 
care that it should not weaken his power. The English who had 
refused to join him before the battle of Hastings were declared 
to have forfeited their lands, but were permitted to keep them 
upon condition of receiving them back from the new king as his 
vassals. The lands of those who actually fought against him at 
Hastings, or in later rebellions, including the great estates of 
Harold's family., were seized and distributed among his faithful 
followers, both Norman and English, though naturally the Nor- 
mans among them far outnumbered the English. 

William declared that he did not propose to change the Eng- 
lish customs but to govern as Edward the Confessor, the last 
Saxon king, had done. He maintained the Witenagemot, a coun- 
cil made up of bishops and nobles, whose advice the Saxon kings 
had sought in all important matters. But he was. a man of too 
much force to submit to the control of his people. He avoided 
giving to any one person a great many estates in a single region, 
so that no one should become inconveniently powerful. Finally, 
in order to secure the support of the smaller landholders and to 
prevent combinations against him among the greater ones, he re- 
quired every landowner in England to take an oath of fidelity 
directly to him, instead of having only a few great landowners 
as vassals who had their own subvassals under their own control, 
as in France (§ 531). 

544. General Results of the Norman Conquest. It is clear 
that the Norman Conquest was not a simple change of kings, but 
that a new element was added to the English people. We cannot 
tell how many Normans actually emigrated across the Channel, 
but they evidently came in considerable numbers, and their in- 
fluence upon the English habits and government was very great. 
A century after William's conquest the whole body of the nobil- 
ity, the bishops, abbots, and government officials, had become 
practically all Norman. Besides these, the architects who built 
the castles and fortresses, the cathedrals and abbeys, came from 
Normandy. Merchants from the Norman cities of Rouen and 



362 History of Europe 

Caen settled in London and other English cities, and weavers from 
Flanders in various towns and even in the country. For a short 
time these newcomers remained a separate people, but by the 
year 1200 they had become for the most part indistinguishable 
from the great mass of English people amongst whom they had 
come. They had nevertheless made the people of England more 
energetic, active-minded, and varied in their occupations and in- 
terests than they had been before the conquest, 

« 

II. Henry II and the Plantagenets 

545. Civil War ending in the Accession of Henry II 
(1154-1189). William the Conqueror was followed by his sons. 
Upon the death of these the country went through a terrible period 
of civil war, for some of the nobility supported the Conqueror's 
grandson Stephen, and some his granddaughter Matilda. After 
the death of Stephen, when Henry II, Matilda's son,^ was finally 
recognized in 11 54 by all as king, he found the kingdom in a 
melancholy state. The nobles had taken advantage of the preva- 
lent disorder to erect castles without royal permission and to 
establish themselves as independent rulers, and many disorderly 
hired soldiers had been brought over from the Continent to sup- 
port the rivals for the throne. 

546. Henry II. Henry II at once adopted vigorous measures. 
He destroyed the illegally erected fortresses, sent off the foreign 
soldiers, and deprived many earls who had been created by Stephen 
and Matilda of their titles. Henry's task was a difficult one. He 
had need of all his tireless energy and quickness of mind to 
restore order in England and at the same time rule the wide 
realms on the Continent which he had either inherited or gained 
through his marriage with a French heiress. 

In order to avoid all excuse for the private warfare which was 
such a persistent evil on the Continent, he undertook to improve 
and reform the law courts. He arranged that his judges should 
make regular circuits throughout the country, so that they might 

1 See genealogical table below, p. 365. 



England in the Middle Ages 



363 



try cases on the spot at least once a year. We find, too, the be- 
ginning of our grand jury in a body of men in each neighborhood 
who were to be duly sworn in, from time to time, and should 
then bring accusations against such malefactors as had come to 
their knowledge. 

547. Trial by Jury. As for the "petty," or smaller, jury of 
twelve, which actually tried the accused, its origin and history are 
obscure. The juries of .^ _ 

Henry II left the verdict '- ' 1^' > f^i^^^^^e^JJ. 
for Heaven to pronounce 
in the ordeal ; but a cen- 
tury later we find the jury 
of twelve itself rendering 
verdicts. The plan of 
delegating to twelve men 
the duty of deciding on 
the guilt or innocence of 
a suspected person was 
very different from the 
earlier systems. It resem- 
bled neither the Roman 
trial, where the judges 
made the decision, nor 
the medieval compurga- 
tion and ordeals (§472). 
The decisions of Henry's 
judges were mainly drawn 
from old English custom, 
instead of from Roman law as in France, and they became the 
basis of the common law which is still used in all English-speaking 
countries. 

548. Thomas Becket and Henry II. Henry's reign was em- 
bittered by the famous struggle with Thomas Becket, which illus- 
trates admirably the peculiar dependence of the monarchs of his 
day upon the churchmen. Becket was born in London and be- 
came a churchman, but he grew up in the service of the king and 




Fig. 91. Norman Gateway at 
Bristol, England 

This beautiful gateway was originally the 

entrance to a monastery, begun in 1142. It 

is one of the finest examples of the Norman 

style of building to be seen in England 



364 



History of Europe 




Fig. 92. Choir of Canterbury 
Cathedral 

The choir of Canterbury Cathedral was 
destroyed by fire four years after Thomas 
Becket was murdered there. The picture 
shows how it was rebuilt under Henry 11 
during the years 1 175-1184. The picture 
shows a very important change that was 
taking place in architecture. The two lower 
rows of arches are the round kind that 
had been used up to that time, while the 
upper row shows how the pointed arch 
was coming in (see below, §§ 656-658) 



was able to aid Henry in 
gaining the throne. It ap- 
peared to Henry that there 
could be no better head for 
the English clergy than this 
loyal Becket ; he therefore 
determined to make him 
Archbishop of Canterbury. 

In securing the election of 
Becket as Archbishop of 
Canterbury, Henry intended 
to insure his own complete 
control of the Church. He 
proposed to punish church- 
men who committed crimes, 
like other offenders, to make 
the bishops meet all the 
feudal obligations, and to 
prevent appeals to the Pope. 
Becket, however, immedi- 
ately gave up the gay life 
he had previously led, and 
opposed every effort of the 
king to reduce the independ- 
ence of the Church. After 
a haughty assertion of the 
supremacy of the Church 
over the king's government 
(see below, §§ 592-593), 
Thomas fled from the wrath- 
ful and disappointed mon- 
arch to France and the 
protection of the Pope. 

In spite of a patched- 
up reconciliation with the 
king, Becket proceeded to 



England in the Middle Ages 365 

excommunicate some of the great English prelates and, as 
Henry believed, was conspiring to rob his son of the crown. 
In a fit of anger Henry exclaimed among his followers, ''Is 
there no one to avenge me of this miserable churchman ? " Un- 
fortunately certain knights took the rash expression literally, 
and Becket was murdered in his own cathedral of Canterbury, 
whither he had returned. The king really had no wish to resort 
to violence, and his sorrow and remorse when he heard of the 
dreadful deed, and his terror at the consequences, were most 
genuine. The Pope proposed to excommunicate him. Henry, 
however, made peace with the papal legates by the solemn as- 
sertion that he had never wished the death of Thomas and by 
promising to return to Canterbury all the property which he had 
confiscated, to send money to aid in the capture of the Holy 
Sepulcher at Jerusalem, and to undertake a crusade himself. 

549. The French Possessions of the Plantagenets. Although 
Henry II was one of the most important kings in English history, 
he spent a great part of his time across the Channel in his French 
possessions. A glance at the accompanying map will show that 
rather more than half of his realms lay to the south of the Eng- 
lish Channel. He controlled more territory in France than the 
French king himself. As great-grandson of William the Con- 
queror^ he inherited the duchy of Normandy and the suzerainty 

1 William the Conqueror, king of England (1066-1087) 

William II (Ruf us) Henry I (1100-1135), Adela, m. Stephen, 

(1087-1100) m. Matilda, daughter count of Blois 

of Malcolm, king 1 

of Scotland Stephen (1135-1 154) 

I 

Matilda (d. 1167), 

m. Geoffrey Plantagenet, 

count of Anjou 

Henry II (1154-1189), 

the first Plantagenet king, 

m. Eleanor of Aquitaine 

I 1 1 

Richard Geoffrey (d. 1186) John 

(1189-1199) I (1199-1216) 

Arthur | 

Henry III 
(1216-1272) 



366 History of Europe 

over Brittany, His mother, Matilda, had married the count of 
Anjou and Maine, so that Henry II inherited these fiefs along 
with those which had belonged to William the Conqueror. Lastly, 
he had himself married Eleanor, heiress of the dukes of Guienne, 
and in this way doubled the extent of his French lands. Henry 
II and his successors are known as the '' Plantagenets," owing to 
the habit that his father, the count of Anjou, had of wearing a 
bit of broom (Latin planta genista) in his helmet. 

So it came about that the French kings beheld a new State, under 
an able and energetic ruler, developing within their borders 
and including more than half the territory over which they were 
supposed to rule. A few years before Henry II died, an am- 
bitious monarch, Philip Augustus, ascended the French throne 
and made it the chief business of his life to get control of his 
feudal vassals, above all, the Plantagenets. 

Henry divided his French possessions among his three sons, 
Richard, Geoffrey, and John ; but father and sons were engaged 
in constant disputes with one another, as none of them were 
easy people to get along with. Philip Augustus took advantage 
of these constant quarrels of the brothers among themselves 
and with their father. These quarrels were most fortunate for 
the French king, for had the Plantagenets held together they 
might have annihilated the royal house of France, whose narrow 
dominions their possessions closed in on the west and south. 

550. Richard the Lion-Hearted. So long as Henry II lived 
there was little chance of expelling the Plantagenets from France ; 
but with the accession of his reckless son, Richard the Lion- 
Hearted, the prospects of the French king brightened wonder- 
fully. Richard is one of the most famous of medieval knights, 
but he was a very poor ruler. He left his kingdom to take care 
of itself while he went upon a crusade to the Holy Land (see 
below, § 6ii). He persuaded Philip Augustus to join him; but 
Richard was too overbearing and masterful, and Philip too am- 
bitious, to make it possible for them to agree for long. The king 
of France, who was physically delicate, was taken ill on the way 
and was glad of the excuse to return home and brew trouble for 




The Plantagenet Possessions in England and France 



•568 History of Europe 

his powerful vassal. When Richard himself returned, after sev- 
eral years of romantic but fruitless adventure, he found himself 
involved in a war with Philip Augustus, in the midst of which 
he died. 

551. John loses the French Possessions of his House. 
Richard's younger brother John, who enjoys the reputation of 
being the most despicable of English kings, speedily gaVe Philip 
a good excuse for seizing a great part of the Plantagenet lands. 
John was suspected of conniving at the brutal murder of his 
nephew Arthur (the son of Geoffrey^). He was also guilty of the 
less serious offense of carrying off and marrying a lady betrothed 
to one of his own vassals. Philip Augustus, as John's suzerain, 
summoned him to appear at the French court to answer the latter 
charge. Upon John's refusal to appear or to do homage for his 
continental possessions, Philip caused his court to issue a decree 
confiscating almost all of the Plantagenet lands, leaving to the 
English king only the southwest corner of France. 

Philip found little difficulty in possessing himself of Normandy 
itself, which showed no reluctance to accept him in place of 
the Plantagenets. Six years after Richard's death the English 
kings had lost all their continental fiefs except Guienne. It should 
be observed that Philip, unlike his ancestors, was no longer merely 
suzerain of the new conquests, but was himself duke of Normandy 
and count of Anjou, of Maine, etc. The boundaries of his domain 
— that is, the lands which he himself controlled directly as feudal 
lord — now extended to the sea. 

St. Louis, Philip's successor, arranged with John's successor in 
1258 that the English king should do him homage for Guienne, 
Gascony, and Poitou, and should surrender every claim on all the 
rest of the former possessions of the Plantagenets. So it came 
about that the English kings continued to hold a portion of France 
for several hundred years. 

552. John of England becomes a Vassal of the Pope. John 
not only lost Normandy and other territories which had belonged 

1 Geoffrey, John's next older brother, who would naturally have succeeded Richard, 
died in 1186. 



England in the Middle Ages 369 

to the earlier Norman kings but he actually consented to become 
the Pope's vassal, receive England as a fief from the papacy, and 
pay tribute to Rome. This strange proceeding came about in this 
wise : The monks of Canterbury had (1205) ventured to choose 
an archbishop — who was at the same time their abbot (§ 496) — 
without consulting King John. Their appointee hastened off to 
Rome to gain the Pope's confirmation, while the irritated John 
forced the monks to hold another election and make his treasurer 
archbishop. The Pope at that time was no less a person than 
Innocent III, one of the greatest of medieval rulers. Innocent 
rejected both the men who had been elected, sent for a new depu- 
tation of monks from Canterbury, and bade them choose Stephen 
Langton, a man of great ability. John then angrily drove the 
monks of Canterbury out of the kingdom. 

Innocent replied by placing England under the interdict ; that 
is to say, he ordered the clergy to close all the churches and 
suspend all public services — a very terrible thing to the people 
of the time. John was excommunicated, and the Pope threatened 
that unless the king submitted to his wishes he would depose 
him and give his crown to Philip Augustus of France. As Philip 
made haste to collect an army for the conquest of England, John 
humbly submitted to the Pope in 12 13. Jle went so far as to 
hand England over to Innocent III and receive it back as a fief, 
thus becoming the vassal of the Pope. He agreed also to send 
a yearly tribute to Rome. 

III. The Great Charter and the Beginnings of 

Parliament 

553. The Granting of the Great Charter (1215). We must 
now turn to another very important event in John's reign — the 
drawing up of the Great Charter of English liberties. 

When, in 12 13, John proposed to lead his English vassals across 
the water in order to attempt to reconquer his lost possessions 
in France, they refused to accompany him on the ground that their 
feudal obligations did not bind them to fight outside of their 



370 History of Europe 

country. Moreover, they showed a lively discontent with John's 
tyranny and his neglect of those limits of the kingly power which 
several of the earlier Norman kings had solemnly recognized. In 
12 14 a number of the barons met and took a solemn oath that they 
would compel the king, by arms if necessary, to sign a charter 
containing the things which, according to English traditions, a 
king might not do. As John would not agree to do this, it proved 
necessary to get together an army and march against him. The 
insurgent nobles met him at Runnymede, not far from London. 
Here on the 15th of June, 12 15, they forced him to swear to ob- 
serve what they believed to be the rights of his subjects, which 
they had carefully written out. 

554. Provisions of the Charter. The Great Charter is per- 
haps the most famous document in the history of government. 
The nobles who concluded this great treaty with a tyramious ruler 
saw that it was to their interest to have the rights of the church- 
men and of the small class of other freemen safeguarded as well 
as their own. The king promises to observe the rights of his 
vassals, and the vassals in turn agree to observe the rights of their 
vassals. The towns are not to be oppressed. The merchant is 
not to be deprived of his goods for small offenses, nor the farmer 
of his wagon and implements. The king is to impose no tax, be- 
sides the three feudal aids,^ except with the consent of the Great 
Council of the nation. This was to include the prelates and 
greater barons and all the king's vassals. 

There is no more notable clause in the Charter than that which 
provides that no freeman is to be arrested, or imprisoned, or 
deprived of his property, unless he be immediately sent before 
a court of his peers for trial. To realize the importance of this 
we must recollect that in France, down to 1789, — nearly six 
hundred years later, — the king exercised such unlimited powers 
that he could order the arrest of anyone he pleased and could 
imprison him for any length of time without bringing him to 

1 These three regular feudal dues were payments made when the lord knighted his 
eldest son, gave his eldest daughter in marriage, or had been captured and was waiting 
to be ransomed. 



England in the Middle Ages 371 

trial or even informing him of the nature of his offense. The 
Great Charter provided further that the king should permit mer- 
chants to move about freely and should observe the privileges 
of the various towns ; nor were his officers longer to be allowed 
to exercise despotic powers over those under them. 

It must be remembered, however, that the barons, who forced 
the Charter on the king, had their own interests especially in 
mind. The nobles, churchmen, merchants, and other freemen 
made up only about a sixth of the population, and the Charter 
had little or nothing to say of serfs or villains who formed the 
great mass of the English people at that time. They could still 
be victimized as before by their masters, the lords of the manor. 
But in later centuries, when the serfs had become free, the Charter 
could be appealed to in support of the commons in general against 
attempts of the ruler to oppress them. 

555. Permanent Value of the Charter. In spite of his 
solemn confirmation of the Charter, John, with his accustomed 
treachery, made an unsuccessful effort to break his promises in 
the Charter ; but neither he nor his successors ever succeeded in 
getting rid of the document. Later there were times when the 
English kings evaded its provisions and tried to rule as absolute 
monarchs. But the people always sooner or later bethought them 
of the Charter, which thus continued to form a barrier against 
permanent despotism in England. 

556. Origin of the English Parliament. During the long reign 
of John's son, Henry III, Parliament began to grow up, an insti- 
tution which has not only played a most important role in English 
history but has also served as the model for similar bodies in 
almost every civilized state in the world. 

The Great Council of the Norman kings, like the older Wite- 
nagemot of Saxon times, was a meeting of nobles, bishops, and 
abbots, which the king summoned from time to time to give him 
advice and aid and to sanction important undertakings. During 
Henry Ill's reign its meetings became more frequent and its dis- 
cussions more vigorous than before, and the name Parliament 
began to be applied to it. 



372 History of Europe 

In 1265 a famous Parliament was held, where a most impor- 
tant new class of members — the commons — were present, who 
were destined to give it its future greatness. In addition to the 
nobles and prelates, two simple knights were summoned from each 
county and two citizens from each of the more flourishing towns 
to attend and take part in the discussions. 

Edward I (son of Henry III) definitely adopted this innovation. 
He doubtless called in the representatives of the towns because 
the townspeople were becoming rich and he wished to have an 
opportunity to ask them to make grants of money to meet the ex- 
penses of the government. He also wished to obtain the approval 
of all the upper classes when he determined upon important meas- 
ures affecting the whole realm. Ever since the so-called " Model 
Parliament " of 1295 the commons, or representatives of the " free- 
men," have always been included along with the clergy and no- 
bility when the national assembly of England has been summoned. 

557. Growth of the Powers of Parliament. The Parliament 
early took the stand that the king must agree to " redress of 
grievances" before it would grant him any money. This meant 
that the king had to promise to remedy any acts of himself or his 
officials of which Parliament complained before it would agree 
to let him raise the taxes. Instead of following the king about and 
meeting wherever he might happen to be, the Parliament from the 
time of Edward I began to hold its sessions in the city of West- 
minster, now a part of London, where it still continues to meet. 

Under Edward's successor, Edward II, Parliament solemnly 
declared in 1322 that important matters relating to the king and 
his heirs, the state of the realm and of the people, should be con- 
sidered and determined upon by the king " with the assent of the 
prelates, earls and barons, and the commonalty [that is, com- 
mons] of the realm." Five years later Parliament showed its 
power by deposing the inefficient king, Edward II, and declaring 
his son, Edward III, the rightful ruler of England. 

The new king, who was carrying on an expensive war with 
France, needed much money and consequently summoned Par- 
liament every year, and, in order to encourage its members to 



I 



England in the Middle Ages 373 

grant him money, he gratified Parliament by asking its advice 
and listening to its petitions. He passed no new law without 
adding '' by and with the advice and consent of the lords spiritual 
and temporal and of the commons." 

558. House of Lords and House of Commons. At this time 
the separation of the two houses of Parliament took place, and 
ever since the " lords spiritual and temporal " — that is, the bishops 
and higher nobles — have sat by themselves in the House of Lords ; 
and the members of the House of Commons, including the country 
gentlemen (knights) and the representatives elected by the more 
important towns, have met by themselves. Parliament thus made 
up is really a modern, not a medieval, institution, and we shall 
hear much of it later. 

IV. Wales and Scotland 

559. Extent of the King of England's Realms before Ed- 
ward I (1272-1307). The English kings who preceded Edward I 
had ruled over only a portion of the island of Great Britain. To 
the west of their kingdom lay the mountainous district of Wales, 
inhabited by that remnant of the original Britons which the Angles 
and Saxons had been unable to conquer (§495). To the north 
of England was the kingdom of Scotland, which was quite inde- 
pendent, except for an occasional recognition by the Scotch kings 
of the English kings as their feudal superiors. Edward I, how- 
ever, succeeded in conquering Wales permanently and Scotland 
temporarily. 

560. Edward I conquers Wales. For centuries a border 
warfare had been carried on between the English and the 
Welsh. When Edward I came to the throne he demanded 
that Llewellyn, Prince of Wales (as the head of the Welsh 
clans was called), should do him homage. Llewellyn, who was 
a man of ability and energy, refused the king's summons, 
and Edward marched into Wales. Two campaigns were neces- 
sary before the Welsh finally succumbed. Llewellyn was killed 
(1282), and with him expired the independence of the Welsh 



374 History of Europe 

people. Edward divided the country into shires and introduced 
English laws and customs, but his policy of conciliation was so 
successful that there was but a single rising in the country for a 
whole century. He later presented his son to the Welsh as their 
prince, and from that time down to the present the title of " Prince 
of Wales" has usually been conferred upon the heir to the 
English throne. 

561. Edward intervenes in Scotch Affairs. The conquest of 
Scotland proved a far more difficult matter than that of Wales. 
When the Angles and Saxons conquered Britain some of them 
wandered north as far as the Firth of Forth and occupied the 
so-called Lowlands of Scotland. The mountainous region to the 
north, known as the Highlands, continued to be held by wild 
tribes related to the Welsh and Irish and talking a language 
similar to theirs, napiely, Gaelic. There was constant warfare 
between the older inhabitants themselves and between them and 
the newcomers from Germany, but both Highlands and Lowlands 
were finally united under a line of Scotch kings, who moved their 
residence down to Edinburgh, which, with its fortress, became 
their chief town. 

It was natural that the language of the Scotch Lowlands should 
be English, but in the mountains the Highlanders to this day 
continue to talk the ancient Gaelic of their forefathers. 

It was not until the time of Edward I that the long series of 
troubles between England and Scotland began. The dying out of 
the old line of Scotch kings in 1290 was followed by the appearance 
of a number of claimants to the crown. In order to avoid civil 
war Edward was asked to decide who should be king. He agreed 
to make the decision on condition that the one whom he selected 
should hold Scotland as a jiej from the English king. This ar- 
rangement was adopted, and the crown was given to John Baliol. 
But Edward unwisely made demands upon the Scots which aroused 
their anger, and their king renounced his homage to the king of 
England. The Scotch, moreover, formed an alliance with Edward's 
enemy, Philip the Fair of France ; thenceforth, in all the difficul- 
ties between England and France, the English kings had always 



England in the Middle Ages 



375 



to reckon with the disaffected Scotch, who were glad to aid 
England's enemies on the other side of the English Channel. 

562. Edward attempts to incorporate Scotland with Eng- 
land. Edward marched in person against the Scotch (1296) and 
speedily put down what he regarded as a rebellion. He declared 
that Baliol had forfeited his fief through treason, and that con- 
sequently the English king had become the real ruler of Scot- 
land. He emphasized his claim by carrying off the famous Stone 




Fig. 93. Conway Castle 

Edward built this fine castle in 1284 on the north coast of Wales to keep the 
Welsh in check. Its walls are twelve to fifteen feet in thickness. There 
were buildings inside, including a great banqueting hall one hundred and 

thirty feet long 



of Scone (now in Westminster Abbey), upon which the kings of 
Scotland had been crowned for ages. Continued resistance led 
Edward to attempt to incorporate Scotland with England in the 
same way that he had treated Wales. This was the beginning 
of three hundred years of intermittent war between England 
and Scotland, which ended only when a Scotch king, James VI, 
succeeded to the English throne in 1603 as James I. 

That Scotland was able to maintain her independence was 
mainly due to Robert Bruce, a national hero who succeeded in 
bringing both the nobility and the people under his leadership. 
Edward I died, old and worn out, in 1307, when on his way 



376 History of Europe 

north to put down a rising under Bruce, and left the task of 
deaHng with the Scotch to his incompetent son, Edward II. The 
Scotch acknowledged Bruce as their king and decisively defeated 
Edward II in the great battle of Bannockburn (13 14), the most 
famous conflict in Scottish history. Nevertheless, the English 
refused to acknowledge the independence of Scotland until forced 
to do so in 1328. 

563. The Scotch Nation differs from the English. In the 
course of their struggles with England the Scotch people of the 
Lowlands had become more closely welded together, and the in- 
dependence of Scotland, although it caused much bloodshed, first 
and last, served to develop certain permanent differences between 
the little Scotch nation and the rest of the English race. No 
Scotchman to the present day likes to be mistaken for an English- 
man. The peculiarities of the language and habits of the people 
north of the Tweed have been made familiar to all readers of 
good literature by the novels of Sir Walter Scott and Robert L. 
Stevenson and by the poems of Robert Burns. 

V. The Hundred Years' War 

564. Edward III claims the French Crown. England and 
France were both becoming strong states in the early fourteenth 
century. The king in both of these countries had got the better 
of the feudal lords, and a parliament had been established in 
France as well as in England, in which the townspeople as well 
as the clergy and nobility were represented. But both countries 
were set back by a long series of conflicts known as the Hundred 
Years' War, which was especially disastrous to France. The 
trouble arose as follows : 

It will be remembered that King John of England had lost all 
the French possessions of the Plantagenets except the duchy of 
Guienne (§ 551). For this he had to do homage to the king of 
France and become his vassal. This arrangement lasted for many 
years, but in the time of Edward III the old French line of kings 
died out, and Edward declared that he himself was the rightful 



England in the Middle Ages 



377 



ruler of all France because his mother, Isabella, was a sister of 
the last king of the old line.^ 

565. Edward III invades France. The French lawyers, how- 
ever, decided that Edward had no claim to the French throne and 
that a very distant relative of the last king was the rightful heir 
to the crown (Philip VI). Edward, nevertheless, maintained that 
he was rightfully king of France. He added the French emblem 
of the lilies (fleur-de-lis) to the lions on the English coat of arms 
(Fig. 94). In 1346 he landed in Normandy with an English army, 
devastated the country, and marched up the Seine toward Paris. 
He met the troops of Philip at Crecy, where a celebrated battle 
was fought, in which the English with their long bows and well- 
directed arrows put to rout the French knights. Ten years later 
the English made another incursion into France and again de- 
feated the French cavalry. The French king (John II) was 
himself captured and carried off to London. 

1 The French kings during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries : 

Louis IX (St. Louis) (1226-1270) 

Philip III (1270-1285) 
I 



Philip IV, the Fair 
(1285-1314) 



Charles of Valois, 
ancestor of the house of Valois 



Louis X 
(1314-1316) 



daughter John 
(1316), 

an 

infant 

who died 

when but 

a few 
days old 



I I 1 

Isabella, m. Phihp V Charles IV 
Edward II (1316-1322) (1322-1328) 

Edward daughters daughter 
III of Philip VI 

England (1328-1350) 

John II 
(1350-1364) 



Charles V Philip, 
(1364-1380) founder of 
• I the power- 
Charles VI ful house 
(1380-1422) of Bur- 
I gundy- 
Charles VII (1422-1461) 

Louis XI (1461-1483) 

Charles VIII (1483-1498) 



378 



History of Europe 



566. The French Parliament (Estates General). The French 
Parliament, commonly called the Estates General, came together 
to consider the unhappy state of affairs. The members from the 
towns were more numerous than the representatives of the clergy 
and nobility. A great list of reforms was drawn up. These pro- 
vided among other things that the Estates General should meet 
regularly even when the king failed to summon them, and that 

the collection and expenditure of 
the public revenue should be no 
longer entirely under the control 
of the king but should be super- 
vised by the representatives of the 
people. The city of Paris rose in 
support of the revolutionary Es- 
tates, but the violence of its allies 
discredited rather than helped the 
movement, and France was soon 
glad to accept the unrestricted 
rule of its king once more. 

567. Contrast between the 
Estates General and the English 
Parliament. The history of the 
Estates General forms a curious 
contrast to that of the English 
Parliament, which was laying the 
foundation of its later power during this very period. While the 
French king occasionally summoned the Estates when he needed 
money, he did so only in order that their approbation of new taxes 
might make it easier to collect them. He never admitted that he 
had not the right to levy taxes if he wished without consulting 
his subjects. 

In England, on the other hand, the kings ever since the time 
of Edward I had repeatedly agreed that no new taxes should 
be imposed without the consent of Parliament. Edward II, as 
we have seen, had gone farther and accepted the representatives 
of the people as his advisers in all important matters touching 




Fig. 94. Royal Arms of 
Edward III 

On the upper left-hand quarter and 

the lower right-hand are the lilies 

as represented in heraldry 




England in the Middle Ages 379 

the welfare of the realm. While the French Estates gradually sank 
into insignificance, the English Parliament soon learned to grant 
no money until the king had redressed the grievances which it 
pointed out, and thus it insured its influence over the king's policy. 

568. Edward III finds it Impossible to conquer France. 
Edward III found it impossible, however, to conquer France, 
and Charles V, the successor of the French king John II, managed 
before Edward died in 1377 to get back almost all the lands 
that the English had occupied. 

For a generation after the death of Edward III the war with 
France was almost discontinued. France had suffered a great 
deal more than England. In the first place, all the fighting had 
been done on her side of the Channel, and in the second place, 
the soldiers, who found themselves without occupation, wandered 
about in bands maltreating and plundering the people. 

569. The Bubonic Plague of 1348-1349 (the "Black 
Death"). The horrors of war had been increased by the deadly 
bubonic plague which appeared in Europe early in 1348. In April 
it had reached Florence ; by August it was devastating France and 
Germany ; it then spread over England from the southwest 
northward, attacking every part of the country during the year 
1349. This disease, like other terrible epidemics, such as small- 
pox and cholera, came from Asia. Those who were stricken with 
it usually died in two or three days. It is impossible to tell what 
proportion of the population perished. Reports of the time say 
that in one part of France but one tenth of the people survived, 
in another but one sixteenth ; and that for a long time five hun- 
dred bodies were carried from the great hospital of Paris every 
day. A careful estimate shows that in England toward one half 
of the population died. At the Abbey of Newenham only the 
abbot and two monks were left alive out of twenty-six. There 
were constant complaints that certain lands were no longer of 
any value to their lords because the tenants were all dead. 

570. Conditions of English Labor. In England the growing 
discontent among the farming classes may be ascribed partly to 
the results of the great pestilence and partly to the new 



380 History of Europe 

taxes which were levied in order to prolong the disastrous 
war with France. Up to this time the majority of those who cul- 
tivated the land were villains, or serfs, who belonged to some 
particular manor, paid stated dues to their lord, and performed 
definite services for him. Hitherto there had been relatively few 
farm hands who might be hired and who sought employment 
anywhere that they could get it. The Black Death, by greatly 
decreasing the number of laborers, raised wages and served to 
increase the importance of the unattached laborer. Conse- 
quently he not only demanded higher wages than ever before 
but readily deserted one employer when another offered him 
more money^ 

This appeared very shocking to those who were accustomed to 
the traditional rates of payment, and the government undertook 
to keep down wages by prohibiting laborers from asking more 
than had been customary during the years that preceded the 
pestilence. Every laborer, when offered work at the established 
wages, was ordered to accept it on pain of imprisonment. The 
first "Statute of Laborers" was issued in 1351 ; but apparently 
it was not obeyed, and similar laws were enacted from time to 
time for a century. 

571. Breaking up of the Manors. The old manor system 
(§§524-526) was breaking up. Many of the laboring class in 
the country no longer held lands as serfs but moved from place 
to place and made a living by working for wages. The villain, 
as the serf was called in England, began to regard the dues which 
he had been accustomed to pay to his lord as unjust. A petition 
to Parliament in 1377 asserts that the villains are refusing to pay 
their customary services to their lords or to acknowledge the 
obligations which they owe as serfs. 

572. The Peasant Revolt of 1381. In 1381 the peasants rose 
in revolt against the taxes levied on them to carry on the hopeless 
war with France. They burned some of the houses of the nobles 
and of the rich bishops and abbots and took particular pains to 
see that the registers were destroyed which were kept by the 
various lords enumerating the obligations of their serfs. 



England in the Middle Ages 381 

573. Final Disappearance of Serfdom in England. Although 
the peasants met with little success, serfdom decayed rapidly. 
It became more and more common for the serf to pay his dues to 
the lord in money instead of working for him, and in this way 
he lost one of the chief characteristics of a serf. The landlord 
then either hired men to cultivate the fields which he reserved for 
his own use, or rented the land to tenants. These tenants were 
not in a position to force their fellow tenants on the. manor to 
pay the full dues which had formerly been exacted by the lord. 
Sixty or seventy years after the Peasants' War the English rural 
population had in one way or another become free men, and serfs 
had practically disappeared. 

574. Renewal of the Hundred Years* War (1415). The war 
between England and France almost ceased for nearly forty years 
after the death of Edward III. It was renewed in 141 5, and the 
English king Henry V won another great victory at Agincourt, 
similar to that won at Crecy. Once more the English bowmen 
slaughtered great numbers of French knights. Fifteen years later 
the English had succeeded in conquering all of France north of the 
Loire River, but a considerable region to the south still continued 
to be held by King Charles VII of France. He was weak and in- 
dolent and was doing nothing to check the English victories. The 
English were engaged in besieging the great town of Orleans 
when help and encouragement came to the French from a most 
unexpected quarter. A peasant girl put on a soldier's armor, 
mounted a horse, and led the faint-hearted French .troops to 
victory. 

575. Joan of Arc. To her family and her companions Joan 
of Arc seemed only " a good girl, simple and pleasant in her ways," 
but she brooded much over the disasters that had overtaken her 
country, and a "great pity on the fair realm of France" filled her 
heart. She saw visions and heard voices that bade her go forth 
to the help of the king and lead him to Rheims to be crowned. 

It was with the greatest difficulty that she got anybody to 
believe in her mission or to help her to get an audience with her 
sovereign. But her own firm faith in her divine guidance triumphed 



382 History of Europe 

over all doubts and obstacles. She was at last accepted as a God- 
sent champion and placed at the head of some troops dispatched 
to the relief of Orleans. This city, which was the key to southern 
France, had been besieged by the English for some months and 
was on the point of surrender. Joan, who rode at the head of 
her troops, clothed in armor like a man, had now become the idol 
of the soldiers and of the people. Under the guidance and in- 
spiration of her courage, sound sense, and burning enthusiasm, 
Orleans was relieved and the English completely routed. The 
Maid of Orleans, as she was henceforth called, was now free to 
conduct the king to Rheims, where he was crowned in the cathe- 
dral (July 17, 1429). 

The Maid now felt that her mission was accomplished and 
begged permission to return to her home and her brothers and 
sisters. To this the king would not consent, and she continued 
to fight his battles with success. But the other leaders were 
jealous of her, and even her friends, the soldiers, were sensitive 
to the taunt of being led by a woman. During the defense of 
Compiegne in May, 1430, she was allowed to fall into the hands 
of the Duke of Burgundy, who sold her to the English. They 
were not satisfied with simply holding as a prisoner that strange 
maiden who had so discomfited them ; they wished to discredit 
everything that she had done, and so declared, and undoubtedly 
believed, that she was a witch who had been helped by the devil. 
She was tried by a court of clergymen, found guilty, and burned 
at Rouen ip 143 1. Her bravery and noble constancy affected even 
her executioners, and an English soldier who had come to triumph 
over her death was heard to exclaim, "We are lost — we have 
burned a saint." The English cause in France was indeed lost, 
for her spirit and example had given new courage and vigor to 
the French armies. 

576. England loses her French Possessions. The English 
Parliament became more and more reluctant to grant funds when 
there were no more victories gained. From this time on the Eng- 
lish lost ground steadily. They were expelled from Normandy in 
1450. Three years later the last vestige of their possessions in 



England in the Middle Ages 



383 



southern France passed into the hands of the French king. 
The Hundred Years' War was over, and, although England still 
retained Calais, the great question whether she should extend her 
sway upon the Continent was finally settled. 

577. The Wars of the Roses (i455-i485); Retainers. The 
close of the Hundred Years' War was followed in England by the 
Wars of the Roses, between the rival families, Lancaster and York,^ 
which were struggling for the crown. The badge of the house of 
Lancaster was a red rose, and that of York was a white one. Each 
party was supported by a group of the wealthy and powerful 
nobles whose conspiracies, treasons, murders, and executions fill 
the annals of England during the period which we have been 
discussing. 

The nobles no longer owed their power as they had in previous 
centuries to vassals who were bound to follow them to war 
(§§ 527-532). Like the king, they relied upon hired soldiers. 
It was easy to find plenty of restless fellows who were willing 
to become the retainers of a nobleman if he would agree to clothe 
them and keep open house, where they might eat and drink their 
fill. Their master was to help them when they got into trouble, 
and they on their part were expected to intimidate, misuse, and 
even murder at need those who opposed the interests of their chief. 



1 Descent of the rival houses of Lancaster and York : 
Edward III (1327-1377) 



I 

Edward, 

the Black Prince 

(d. 1376) 

I 



John of Gaunt, 
duke of Lancaster 



1 



Richard II Henry IV (1399-1413) John Beaufort 

(1377-1399) I I 

Henry V (1413-1422) John Beaufort 



Henry VI (1422-1461) 



Edmund, 
duke of York 



Richard 

I 
Richard 



Edward IV Richard III 
(1461-1483) (1483-1485) 



Edmund Tudor, m. Margaret 

Henry VII, m. Elizabeth of York Edward V, 

(1485-1509) murdered in 

first of the the Tower, 

Tudor kings 1483 



3^4 



History of Europe 



578. The Despotism of the Tudors. It is needless to speak 
of the several battles and the many skirmishes of the miserable 
Wars of the Roses. These lasted from 1455, when the Duke of 
York set seriously to work to displace the weak-minded Lancas- 
trian king (Henry VI), until the accession of Henry VII, of the 
house of Tudor, thirty years later ( 1485) . (See table on page 383.) 

The Wars of the Roses had important results. Nearly all the 
powerful families of England had been drawn into the war, and 

a great part of the nobility, 
whom the kings had formerly 
feared, had perished on the 
battlefield or lost their heads 
in the ruthless executions 
carried out by each party 
after it gained a victory. 
This left the king far more 
powerful than ever before. 
He could now control Parlia- 
ment, even if he could not 
do away with it. For a 
century and more after the 
accession of Henry VII the 
Tudor kings exercised almost 
despotic power. England ceased for a time to enjoy the free 
government for which the foundations had been laid under the 
Edwards, whose embarrassments at home and abroad had made 
them constantly dependent upon the aid of the nation. 

579. France establishes a Standing Army (1439). In France 
the closing years of the Hundred Years' War had witnessed a 
great increase of the king's power through the establishment of a 
well-organized standing army. The feudal army had long since 
disappeared. Even before the opening of the war the nobles had 
begun to be paid for their military services and no longer fur- 
nished troops as a condition of holding fiefs. But the companies 
of soldiers found their pay very uncertain and plundered their 
countrymen as well as the enemy. 




Fig. 95. Portrait of Henry VII 



England in the Middle Ages 



38s 



The Estates- agreed in 1439 that the king should use a certain 
tax, called the taille, to support the troops necessary for the pro- 
tection of the frontier. This was a fatal concession, for the king 
now had an army and the right to collect what he chose to con- 
sider a permanent tax, the amount of which he later greatly in- 
creased ; he was not dependent, as was the English king, upon the 
grants made for brief periods by the representatives of the nation 
assembled in Parliament. 

580. The New Feudalism. Before the king of France could 
hope to establish a compact, well-organized state it was necessary 
for him to reduce the power of his 
vassals, some of whom were almost 
his equals in strength. The process 
of reducing the power of the nobles 
had, it is true, been begun. They 
had been forbidden to coin money, 
to maintain armies, and to tax 
their subjects ; and the powers of 
the king's judges had been ex- 
tended over all the realm. But 
the task of consolidating France 
was reserved for the son of 
Charles VII, the shrewd and 
treacherous Louis XI (i 461-1483). 

581. Work of Louis XI. The most powerful and dangerous 
of Louis XI's vassals were the dukes of Burgundy, and they gave 
him a great deal of trouble. Of Burgundy something will be said 
in later chapters. Louis XI had himself made heir to a number 
of provinces in central and southern France, — Anjou, Maine, 
Provence, etc., — which by the death of their possessors came 
under the king's immediate control (1481). He humiliated in 
various ways the vassals who in his early days had combined 
against him. Louis's aims were worthy, but his means were 
generally despicable. It sometimes seemed as if he gloried in 
being the most rascally among rascals, the most treacherous among 
the traitors. 




Fig. 96. Louis XI of France 



386 History of Europe 

582. England and France establish Strong National Govern- 
ments. Both England and France emerged from the troubles and 
desolations of the Hundred Years' War stronger than ever before. 
In both countries the kings had overcome the menace of feudalism 
by destroying the power of the great families. The royal govern- 
ment was becoming constantly more powerful. Commerce and 
industry increased the people's wealth and supplied the monarchs 
with the revenue necessary to maintain government officials and 
a sufficient army to keep order throughout their realms. They 
were no longer forced to rely upon the uncertain fidelity of their 
vassals. In short, England and France were both becoming 
modern states. 

QUESTIONS 

I. Tell what you can about England before the Norman Conquest. 
How did Normandy come into existence ? How did William of Nor- 
mandy get possession of England ? What was William's policy after 
he conquered England ? 

II. Mention some of the reforms of Henry II. Describe Henry's 
troubles with Thomas Becket. What was the extent of the possessions 
of the Plantagenets in France ? In what way did the French king 
succeed in getting a considerable part of the Plantagenet possessions 
into his own hands ? Describe the chief events in the reign of King 
John of England. 

III. How was the Great Charter granted, and what were some of 
its main provisions ? What is the EngUsh Parliament ? When was it 
formed ? What were its powers ? 

IV. When was Wales conquered by the English kings ? What are 
the Highlands and the Lowlands of Scotland ? Tell of the attempts of 
Edward I to get possession of Scotland. 

V. Give the origin and general course of the Hundred Years' War 
under Edward III. Why did not the Estates General become as 
powerful as the English Parliament ? Tell about the Black Death. 
What led to the disappearance of serfdom in England ? Give an 
account of Joan of Arc. What were the great causes of disorder in 
England during the generation before the accession of Henry VII ? 
What was accomplished by Louis XI ? 



CHAPTER XXVI 
POPES AND EMPERORS 

I. Origin of the Holy Roman Empire 

583. Otto the Great (936-973). Charlemagne's successors in 
the German part of his empire found it quite as hard as did the 
kings of the western, or French, kingdom to keep control of 
their vassals. Germany, like France, was divided into big and 
little fiefs, and the dukes and counts were continually waging 
war upon each other and upon their king. The general causes 
of this chronic disorder in the Middle Ages have been described 
in a previous chapter. 

The first German ruler whom we need to notice here was Otto 
the Great, who came to the throne in the year 936. He got as 
many of the great fiefs as possible into the hands of his relatives 
in the hope that they would be faithful to him. He put an end 
forever to the invasions of the Hungarians who had been ravaging 
Germany. He defeated them in a great battle near Augsburg and 
drove them out of his realms. As has already been said (see 
above, § 519), they finally settled in eastern Europe and laid 
the foundations of what was to become the important state of 
Hungary. 

584. Otto the Great becomes King of Italy and Emperor 
(962). It would seem as if Otto had quite enough trouble at 
home, but he thought that it would make him and his reign more 
glorious if he added northern Italy to his realms. So in 951 he 
crossed the Alps and, without being formally crowned, was gener- 
ally acknowledged as king of Italy. He had to hasten back to 
Germany to put down a revolt organized by his own son, but ten 
years later he was called to Rome by the Pope, who was seeking 
protection from the attacks of his enemies. Otto accepted the 

387 



388 History oj Europe 

invitation, and the grateful Pope in return crowned him emperor, 
as Charlemagne's successor (962). 

The coronation of Otto was a very important event in Ger- 
man history ; for, from this time on, the German kings, instead 
of confining their attention to keeping their own kingdom in 
order, were constantly distracted by the necessity of keeping hold 
on their Italian kingdom, which lay on the other side of a great 
range of mountains. 

The succeeding German emperors had usually to make sev- 
eral costly and troublesome journeys to Rome, — a first one to be 
crowned, and then others either to depose a hostile Pope or 
to protect a friendly one from the oppression of neighboring 
lords. These expeditions were very distracting, especially to a 
ruler who left behind him in Germany a rebellious nobility that 
always took advantage of his absence to revolt. 

585. The Holy Roman Empire. Otto's successors dropped 
their old title of king of the East Franks as soon as they had been 
duly crowned by the Pope at Rome, and assumed the magnificent 
and all-embracing designation, ''Emperor Ever August of the 
Romans."^ Their "Holy Roman Empire," as it came to be 
called later, which was to endure, in name at least, for more than 
eight centuries, was obviously even less like that of the ancient 
Romans than was Charlemagne's. As kings of Germany and Italy 
they had practically all the powers that they enjoyed as emperors. 
The title of emperor was of course a proud one, but it gave the 
German kings no additional power except the fatal right that they 
claimed of taking part in the election of the Pope. We shall find 
that, instead of making themselves feared at home and building 
up a great state, the German emptors wasted their strength in 
a long struggle with the popes, who proved themselves in the 
end far stronger, and eventually reduced the Empire to a mere 
shadow. 

1 Henry II (1002-1024) and his successors, not venturing to assume the title of 
emperor till crowned at Rome, but anxious to claim Rome as attached to the German 
crown, began to call themselves, before their coronation, " King of the Romans." 




Popes and Emperors 389 

II. The Church and its Property 

586. Lands of the Church draw it into the Feudal System. 
In order to understand the long struggle between the emperors 
and the popes, we must stop a moment to consider the condition 
of the Church in the early Middle Ages. It seemed to be losing 
all its strength and dignity and to be falling apart, just as Charle- 
magne's empire had dissolved into feudal bits. This was chiefly 
due to the fact that the churchmen held such vast tracts of land. 

A king, or other landed proprietor, might grant fiefs to church- 
men as well as to laymen. The bishops became the vassals of 
the king or of other feudal lords by doing homage for a fief and 
swearing fidelity, just as any other vassal would do. An abbot 
would sometimes secure for his monastery the protection of a 
neighboring lord by giving up his land and receiving it back 
again as a fief. 

587. Fiefs held by Churchmen not Hereditary. One great 
difference, however, existed between the Church lands and the 
ordinary fiefs. According to the law of the Church the bishops 
and abbots could not marry and so could have no heirs to whom 
they might transmit their property. Consequently, when a land- 
holding churchman died, someone had to be chosen in his place 
who should enjoy his property and perform his duties. The rule 
of the Church had been, from time immemorial, that the clergy 
of the bishopric should choose the bishop, their choice being 
ratified by the people. As for the abbots, they were, according 
to the Rule of St. Benedict, to be chosen by the members of the 
monastery. 

588. Investiture. In spite of these rules, the bishops and 
abbots had come, in the tenth and eleventh centuries, to be se- 
lected, to all intents and purposes, by the various kings and feudal 
lords. It is true that the outward forms of a regular election 
were usually permitted ; but the feudal lord made it clear whom he 
wished chosen, and if the wrong person was elected he simply 
refused to hand over to him the lands attached to the bishopric 
or abbey. 



3 go History of Europe 

When a bishop or abbot had been duly chosen, the feudal lord 
proceeded to the investiture. The new bishop or abbot first be- 
came the "man" of the lord by doing him homage (§ 528), and 
then the lord transferred to him the lands and rights attached 
to the office. No careful distinction appears to have been made 
between the property and the religious powers. The lord often 
conferred both by bestowing upon a bishop the ring and the 
crosier (the bishop's pastoral staff), the emblems of religious au- 
thority. It seemed shocking enough that the king or feudal lord, 
who was often a rough soldier, should dictate the selection of 
the bishops ; but it was still more shocking that he should assume 
to confer religious powers with religious emblems. 

In Germany the king had found it convenient, from about the 
beginning of the eleventh century, to confer upon the bishops in 
many cases the authority of a count in the districts about them. 
In this way they might have the right to collect tolls, coin money, 
and perform other important governmental duties. To forbid the 
king to take part in the investiture was, consequently, to rob him 
of his authority over many of his government officials, since 
bishops, and sometimes even abbots, were often counts in all 
but name. He therefore found it necessary to take care who got 
possession of the important church offices. 

589. The Marriage of the Clergy. Still another danger 
threatened the wealth and resources of the Church. During the 
tenth and eleventh centuries the rule of the Church prohibiting the 
clergy from marrying appears to have been widely neglected in 
Italy, Germany, France, and England. To the stricter people of 
the time this appeared a terrible degradation of the clergy, who, 
they felt, should be unencumbered by family cares and should 
devote themselves wholly to the service of God. The question, 
too, had another side. It was obvious that the property of the 
Church would soon be dispersed if the clergy were allowed to 
marry, since they would wish to provide for their children. Just 
as the feudal lands had become hereditary (§ 530), so the church 
lands would become hereditary unless the clergy were forced to 
remain unmarried. 



/■ 



Popes and Emperors 391 



590. Buying and Selling of Church Offices : Simony. Be- 
sides the feudalizing of its property and the marriage of the 
clergy, there was a third great and constant source of weakness 
and corruption in the Church at this period, namely, the temp- 
tation to buy and sell church offices. The revenue from a great 
church estate and the high rank that went with the office were 
enough to induce the members of the noblest families to vie with 
each other in securing church positions. The king or prince who 
possessed the right of investiture was sure of finding someone 
willing to pay something for important benefices. 

The sin of buying or selling church offices was recognized as 
a most serious one. It was called "simony,"^ a name derived from 
Simon the Magician, who, according to the account in the Acts 
of the Apostles, offered money to the Apostle Peter if he would 
give him the power of imparting the Holy Spirit to those upon 
whom he should lay hands. 

It must be remembered, however, that when a king or lord 
accepted a gift from one for whom he procured a benefice, he did 
not regard himself as selling the office ; he merely shared its ad- 
vantages. No transaction took place in the Middle Ages without 
accompanying gifts and fees of various kinds. 

The evil of simony (or "graft," as we should call it) spread 
downward and infected the whole body of the clergy. A bishop 
who had made a large outlay in obtaining his office naturally 
expected something from the priests, whom it was his duty to 
appoint. Then the priest, in turn, was tempted to exact too 
much for baptizing and marrying his parishioners and for bury- 
ing the dead. 

591. Nicholas II reforms Election of Popes (1059). So it 
seemed, at the opening of the eleventh century, as if the Church 
was to be dragged down by its property into the anarchy of 
feudalism described in a preceding chapter. 

The popes had, therefore, many difficulties to overcome in 
the gigantic task which they undertook of making the Church 
a great international monarchy, like the Roman Empire, with 

1 Pronounced sim'o-ny. See Acts viii, 20. 



392 History of Europe 

its capital at Rome, The control exercised by kings and feudal 
lords in the selection of Church officials had to be done away 
with. The marriage of the clergy had to be checked, for fear 
that the property and wealth of the Church would go to their 
families and so be lost to the Church. Simony with its degrading 
effects had to be abolished. 

The first great step toward the freeing of the Church from 
the control of the kings and feudal lords was taken by Pope 
Nicholas II. In 1059 he issued a remarkable decree which took 
the election of the head of the Church once for all out of the 
hands of both the emperor and the people of Rome and placed 
it definitely and forever in the hands of the cardinals, who repre- 
sented the Roman clergy.^ 

The reform party which directed the policy of the popes now 
proposed to emancipate the Church as a whole from the base en- 
tanglements of earth : first, by strictly forbidding the clergy to 
marry ; and secondly, by depriving the kings and feudal lords of 
their influence over the choice of the bishops and abbots. The 
magnitude of the task which the popes had undertaken first be- 
came fully apparent when the celebrated Gregory VII (often 
called Hildebrand) ascended the papal throne, in 1073. 

592. The Dictatus of Gregory VII. Among the writings of 
Gregory VII there is a very brief statement, called the Dic- 
tatus, of the powers which he believed the popes to possess. Its 
chief claims are the following : The Pope enjoys a unique title ; 
he is the only universal bishop and may depose and reinstate 
other bishops or transfer them from place to place. No council 
of the Church may be regarded as speaking for Christendom 
without his consent. The Roman Church has never erred, nor 

1 The word " cardinal " (Latin cardinalis, " principal ") was applied to the priests of 
the various parishes in Rome, to the several deacons connected with the Lateran, — 
which was the cathedral church of the Roman bishopric, — and, lastly, to six or seven 
suburban bishops who officiated in turn in the Lateran. The title became a very dis- 
tinguished one and was sought by ambitious foreign prelates and ecclesiastical states- 
men, like Wolsey, Richelieu, and Mazarin. If their official titles were examined, it would 
be found that each was nominally a cardinal bishop, priest, or deacon of some Roman 
church. The number of cardinals varied until fixed, in 1586, at six bishops, fifty priests, 
and fourteen deacons. 



Popes and Emperors 393 

will it err to all eternity. No one may be considered a Catholic 
Christian who does not agree with the Roman Church. No book 
is authoritative unless it has received the papal sanction. 

Gregory does not stop with asserting the Pope's complete 
supremacy over the Church. He says that " the Pope is the only 
person whose feet are kissed by all princes" ; that he may depose 
emperors and "absolve subjects from allegiance to an unjust 
ruler." No one shall dare to condemn one who appeals to the 
Pope. No one may annul a decree of the Pope, though the Pope 
may declare null and void the decrees of all other earthly powers ; 
and no one may pass judgment upon his acts. 

593. Gregory VII puts his Theories into Practice. Im- 
mediately upon his election as Pope, Gregory began to put into 
practice his high conception of the role that the religious head 
of Christendom should play. He explained, kindly but firmly, to 
William the Conqueror (§ 541) that the papal and kingly powers 
are both established by God as the greatest among the authorities 
of the world, just as the sun and moon are the greatest of the 
heavenly bodies. But the papal power is obviously superior to 
the kingly, for it is responsible for it. At the Last Day, Gregory 
would have, he urged, to render an account of the king as one 
of the flock intrusted to his care. The king of France was warned 
to give up his practice of simony, lest he be excommunicated 
and his subjects freed from their oath of allegiance. All these 
acts of Gregory appear to have been dictated not by worldly 
ambition but by a fervent conviction of their righteousness and 
of his heavy responsibility to God and toward all men. 

III. The Long Struggle between Popes and Emperors 

594. Struggle over Investiture between Henry IV and 
Gregory VII. The popes who immediately preceded Gregory 
had more than once forbidden the churchmen to receive investi- 
ture from laymen. Gregory reissued this prohibition in 1075. 
Investiture was, as we have seen (§ 588), the legal transfer by the 
king or other lord, to a newly chosen church official, of the lands 



394 History of Europe 

and rights attached to the office. In forbidding investiture by lay- 
men Gregory attempted nothing less than a revolution. The 
bishops and abbots were often officers of government, exercising in 
Germany and Italy powers similar in all respects to those of the 
counts. The German king not only relied upon them for advice 
and assistance in carrying on his government, but they were among 
his chief allies in his constant struggles with his vassals. 

This act of Gregory's led to a long and bitter struggle between 
the popes and German rulers, lasting for two hundred years. 
Gregory's legates so irritated the young German king, Henry IV, 
that he had the Pope deposed as a wicked man (1076). 

Gregory's reply to Henry and the German bishops who had 
deposed him was speedy and decisive. ''Incline thine ear to 
us, O Peter, chief of the Apostles. As thy representative and by 
thy favor has the power been granted especially to me by God 
of binding and loosing in heaven and earth (compare § 483). . . . 
I withdraw, through thy power and authority, from Henry the 
King, who has risen against thy Church with unheard-of insolence, 
the rule over the whole kingdom of the Germans and over Italy. 
I absolve all Christians from the bonds of the oath which they 
have sworn, or may swear, to him ; and I forbid anyone to serve 
him as king."^ 

For a time after the Pope had deposed him everything went 
against Henry. Instead of resenting the Pope's interference, the 
discontented Saxons, and many other of Henry's vassals, believed 
that there was now an excellent opportunity to get rid of Henry 
and choose a more agreeable ruler. 

595. Henry submits to the Pope at Canossa (1077). Henry 
was so discouraged that he hastened across the Alps in midwinter 
and appeared as a humble suppliant before the castle of Canossa,^ 
whither the Pope had come on his way to Germany. For three 
days the German king presented himself before the closed door, 
barefoot and in the coarse garments of a pilgrim and a penitent, 
before the Pope consented to receive him. The spectacle of this 

1 See tailpiece at the end of this chapter. 

2 The castle of Canossa belonged to Gregory VII's ally and admirer, the Countess 
of Tuscany. 



Popes and Emperors 395 

mighty prince of distinguished appearance, in tears before the 
little man who humbly styled himself the '' servant of the servants 
of God," has always been regarded as most completely typifying 
the power of the Church and the potency of her curses against 
even the most exalted of the earth. 

The famous scene at Canossa settled nothing, however, and 
the struggle went on. The Pope took sides with Henry's enemies 
in" Germany, but the German king was able to march down into 
Italy later and drive Gregory from Rome. They both died in 
the midst of the conflict. 

596. Concordat of Worms (1122). After a long succession of 
troubles between their successors a compromise was reached in 
the Concordat of Worms (1122) which put an end to the con- 
troversy over investitures in Germany. The emperor promised 
to permit the Church freely to elect the bishops and abbots and 
renounced his old claim to invest with the religious emblems of 
the ring and the crosier. But the elections were to be held in 
the presence of the king, and he was permitted, in a separate 
ceremony, to invest the new bishop or abbot with his fiefs and his 
governmental powers by a touch of the scepter. In this way the 
religious powers of the bishops were obviously conferred by the 
churchmen who elected them ; and although the king might still 
practically invalidate an election by refusing to hand over the 
lands, nevertheless the actual appointment of the bishops and 
abbots was taken out of his hands. 

597. Frederick I (Barbarossa) of Hohenstaufen (1152-1190). 
A generation after the matter of investitures had been arranged 
by the Concordat of Worms the most famous of German em- 
perors, next to Charlemagne, came to the throne. This was Fred- 
erick I, commonly called Barbarossa (from his red beard). He 
belonged to the family of Hohenstaufen, so called from their castle 
in southern Germany. Frederick's ambition was to restore the 
Roman Empire to its old glory and influence. He regarded him- 
self as the successor of the Caesars, as well as of Charlemagne and 
Otto the Great. He believed his office to be quite as truly estab- 
lished by God himself as the papacy. 



396 



History of Europe 



In his lifelong attempt to maintain what he thought to be his 
rights as emperor he met, quite naturally, with the three old 
difficulties. He had constantly to be fighting his rivals and 
rebellious vassals in Germany ; he had to face the opposition of 
the popes, who never forgot the claims that Gregory VII had 







Italian Towns in the Twelfth Century 

made to control the emperor as well as other rulers. Lastly, 
in trying to keep hold of northern Italy, which he believed to 
belong to his empire, he spent a great deal of time with but 
slight results. 

598. The Attempt to conquer the Lombard Towns. One of 
the greatest differences between the early Middle Ages and Fred- 
erick's time was the development of town life. The towns had 
never decayed altogether in Italy, and by the time of Frederick 



Popes and Emperors 397 

Barbarossa they had begun to flourish once more, especially in 
Lombardy. Such towns as Milan, Verona, and Cremona were 
practically independent states, often fighting one another. 

But in spite of all the warfare and disorder the Italian cities 
became wealthy and, as we shall see later, were centers of 
learning and art similar to the ancient cities of Greece, such as 
Athens and Corinth. They were able to combine in a union 
known as the Lombard League to oppose Frederick, for they 
hated the idea of paying taxes to a German king from across the 
Alps. Frederick made several expeditions to Italy, but he only 
succeeded, after a vast amount of trouble, in getting them to 
recognize him as a sort of overlord. He was forced to leave them 
to manage their own affairs and go their own way. 

599. Frederick II and Southern Italy. After some forty 
years of fighting in Germany and Italy, Frederick Barbarossa de- 
cided to undertake a crusade to the Holy Land and lost his life 
on the way thither. The grandson of Frederick Barbarossa, the 
famous Frederick II, continued the wearisome struggle between 
the emperors and popes. He was unable to bring any order into 
German affairs and devoted most of his attention to southern 
Italy. His mother, Constance, was heiress to the kingdoms of 
Naples and Sicily, and here Frederick built up the first well- 
regulated modern state. He was an unusually thoughtful man 
for a medieval king and appears to have rejected many of the 
opinions of his time. His enemies asserted that he was not even a 
Christian and that he declared that Moses, Christ, and Mohammed 
were all alike impostors. He nevertheless issued very harsh edicts 
against heretics and did all he could to discover and punish them. 

We cannot stop to relate the romantic and absorbing story of 
his long struggle with the popes. They speedily discovered that 
he was bent upon establishing a powerful state to the south of 
them and upon extending his control over the Lombard cities 
in such a manner that the papal possessions would be held as in 
a vise. This, they felt, must never be permitted. 

Frederick was denounced in solemn councils, and at last deposed 
by one of the popes. After his death (1250) his sons maintained 



398 History of Europe 

themselves for a few years in the Sicilian kingdom ; but they 
finally gave way before a French army, led by the brother of 
St. Louis, Charles of Anjou, upon whom the Pope bestowed the 
southern realms of the Hohenstaufens. 

600. End of the Medieval Empire. With Frederick's death 
the medieval Empire may be said to have come to an end. It is 
true that after a period of "fist law," as the Germans call it, a 
new king, Rudolf of Hapsburg, was elected in Germany in 1273. 
The German kings continued to call themselves emperors. Few 
of them, however, took the trouble to go to Rome to be crowned 
by the Pope. No serious effort was ever made to reconquer the 
Italian territory for which Otto the Great, Frederick Barbarossa, 
and his grandson had made such serious sacrifices. Germany 
was hopelessly divided and its king was no real king. He had 
no capital city and no well-organized government. Such power 
as existed was mainly in the hands of the king's powerful vassals, 
— dukes, counts, bishops, and abbots. 

By the middle of the thirteenth century it becomes apparent 
that neither Germany nor Italy was to be converted into a strong 
single kingdom like England and France. The map of Germany 
shows a confused group of duchies, counties, archbishoprics, 
bishoprics, abbacies, and free towns, each one of which asserted 
its practical independence of the weak king and emperor. 

In northern Italy each town, including a certain district about 
its walls, had become an independent state, dealing with its 
neighbors as with independent powers. The Italian towns were 
destined to become the birthplace of our modern culture during 
the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Venice and Florence, in 
spite of their small size, came to be reckoned among the most 
important states of Europe (see §§661-668, below). In the 
central part of the peninsula the Pope maintained more or less 
control over his possessions, but he often failed to subdue the 
towns within his realms. To the south the kingdom of Naples, 
which the Hohenstaufens had lost, remained for some time under 
the French dynasty, which the Pope had called in, while the island 
of Sicily drifted into Spanish hands. 



Popes and Emperors 



399 



QUESTIONS 

I. Describe the way in which the German kings gained the title of 
emperor. What do you understand by the Holy Roman Empire ? 

II. What was the effect of the vast landholdings of the Church ? 
What was investiture, and why did it raise difficulties between the 
popes and emperors ? Why did the Pope oppose the marriage of the 
clergy ? How is the Pope elected ? What is a cardinal ? What was 
the Dictatus, and what claims did it make ? 

III. Describe the conflict between Henry IV and Gregory VII. 
What were the provisions of the Concordat of Worms ? What new 
enemies did Frederick Barbarossa find in northern Italy? Narrate 
the struggle between Frederick II and the popes and its outcome. 
In what condition was Germany left after the extinction of the 
Hohenstaufens ? 

Note. The pictures below are taken from an illustrated manuscript written some 
decades after Gregory VII's death. In the one on the left Gregory is represented 
blowing out a candle and saying to his cardinals, " As I blow out this light, so will 
Henry IV be extinguished." In the one on the right is shown the death of Gregory 
(1085). He probably did not wear his crown in bed, but the artist wanted us to be sure 
to recognize that he was Pope. 




":igpis^^: 









CHAPTER XXVII 

THE CRUSADES 

I, Origin of the Crusades 

601. Fascination of the Crusades. Of all the events of the 
Middle Ages the most romantic and fascinating are the Crusades, 
the adventurous expeditions to Syria and Palestine, undertaken 
by devout and warlike kings and knights with the hope of perma- 
nently reclaiming the Holy Land from the infidel Turks. All 
through the twelfth and thirteenth centuries each generation be- 
held at least one great army of crusaders gathering from every part 
of the West and starting toward the Orient. Each year witnessed 
the departure of small bands of pilgrims or of solitary soldiers of 
the cross. 

For two hundred years there was a continuous stream of Euro- 
peans of every rank and station — kings and princes, powerful 
nobles, simple knights, common soldiers, monks, townspeople, and 
even peasants — from England, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy, 
making their way into Western Asia. If they escaped the count- 
less dangers which beset them on the journey, they either settled 
in this distant land and devoted themselves to war or commerce, 
or returned home, bringing with them tales of great cities and new 
peoples, of skill, knowledge, and luxury unknown in the West. 

602. The Holy Land conquered first by the Arabs and then 
by the Turks. Syria had been overrun by the Arabs in the 

400 



The Crusades 401 

seventh century, shortly after the death of Mohammed, and the 
Holy City of Jerusalem had fallen into the hands of the infidels 
(§ 500). The Arab, however, shared the veneration of the Chris- 
tian for the places associated with the life of Christ and, in gen- 
eral, permitted the Christian pilgrims who found their way thither 
to worship unmolested. But with the coming of a new and ruder 
people, the Seljuk Turks, in the eleventh century, the pilgrims 
began to bring home news of great hardships. Moreover, the East- 
ern emperor was defeated by the Turks in 107 1 and lost Asia 
Minor. The presence of the Turks, who had taken possession of 
the fortress of Nicaea, just across from Constantinople, was of 
course a standing menace to the Eastern Empire. When the 
energetic Emperor Alexius (1081-1118) ascended the throne he 
endeavored to expel the infidel. Finding himself unequal to 
the task, he appealed for assistance to the head of Christendom, 
Pope Urban II. 

603. Urban II issues Call to First Crusade (1095). The first 
great impetus to the Crusades was the call issued by Urban at 
the celebrated church council which met in 1095 at Clermont in 
France. In an address which produced more remarkable immedi- 
ate results than any other which history records, the Pope exhorted 
knights and soldiers of all ranks to give up their usual wicked 
business of destroying their Christian brethren in private warfare 
(see above, §§ 532-534) and turn, instead, to the succor of their 
fellow Christians in the East. He warned them that the insolent 
Turks would, if unchecked, extend their sway still more widely 
over the faithful servants of the Lord. Urban urged, besides, that 
France was too poor to support all its people, while the Holy Land 
flowed with milk and honey. " Enter upon the road to the Holy 
Sepulcher ; wrest the land from the wicked race and subject it 
to yourselves." 

When the Pope had finished, all who were present exclaimed, 
with one accord, " It is the will of God." This, the Pope declared, 
should be the rallying cry of the crusaders, who were to wear a 
cross upon their bosoms as they went forth, and upon their backs 
as they returned, as a holy sign of their sacred mission. 



402 History oj Europe 

604. The Motives of the Crusaders. The Crusades are ordi- 
narily represented as the most striking examples of the simple 
faith and religious enthusiasm of the Middle Ages. They ap- 
pealed, however, to many different kinds of men. The devout, 
the romantic, and the adventurous were by no means the only 
classes that were attracted. Syria held out inducements to the 
discontented noble who might hope to gain a principality in the 
East, to the merchant who was looking for new enterprises, to 
the merely restless who wished to avoid his responsibilities at 
home, and even to the criminal who enlisted with a view of es- 
caping the results of his past offenses. 

It is noteworthy that Urban appeals especially to those who 
had been "contending against their brethren and relatives," and 
urges those "who have hitherto been robbers now to become 
soldiers of Christ." And the conduct of many of the crusaders 
indicates that the Pope found a ready hearing among these classes. 
Yet higher motives than a love of adventure and the hope of 
conquest impelled many who took their way eastward. Great 
numbers, doubtless, went to Jerusalem "through devotion alone, 
and not for the sake of honor or gain," with the sole object of 
freeing the Holy Sepulcher from the hands of the infidel. 

To such as these the Pope promised that the journey itself 
should take the place of all penance for sin. The faithful cru- 
sader, like the faithful Mohammedan, was assured of immediate 
entrance into heaven if he died repentant. Later, the Church 
exhibited its extraordinary authority by what would seem to us 
an unjust interference with business contracts. It freed those 
who "with a pure heart" entered upon the journey from the 
payment of interest upon their debts and permitted them to 
mortgage property against the wishes of their feudal lords. 

605. Peter the Hermit and his Army. The Council of Cler- 
mont met in November. Before spring (1096) those who set forth 
to preach the Crusade — above all, the famous Peter the Hermit, 
who was formerly given credit for having begun the whole crusad- 
ing movement — had collected, in France and along the Rhine, 
an extraordinary army of the common folk. Peasants, workmen, 



The Crusades 403 

vagabonds, and even women and children, answered the summons, 
all blindly intent upon rescuing the Holy Sepulcher, two thousand 
miles away. They were confident that the Lord would sustain 
them during the weary leagues of the journey, and that, when 
they reached the Holy Land, he would grant them a prompt 
victory over the infidel. 

This great host was got under way in several divisions under 
the leadership of Peter the Hermit, and of Walter the Penniless 
and other humble knights. Many of the crusaders were slaugh- 
tered by the Hungarians, who rose to protect themselves from the 
depredations of this motley horde in its passage through their 
country. Part of them got as far as Nicaea, only to be slaughtered 
by the Turks. This is but an example, on a large scale, of what 
was going on continually for a century or so after this first great 
catastrophe. Individual pilgrims and adventurers, and sometimes 
considerable bodies of crusaders, were constantly falling a prey 
to every form of disaster — starvation, slavery, disease, and death 
— in their persistent endeavors to reach the far-away Holy Land. 

II. The First Crusade 

606. The First Crusade (io96). The most conspicuous figures 
of the long period of the Crusades are not, however, to be found 
among the lowly followers of Peter the Hermit, but are the 
knights, in their long coats of flexible armor. A year after the 
summons issued at Clermont great armies of fighting men had 
been collected in the West under distinguished leaders — the 
Pope speaks of three hundred thousand soldiers. Of the various 
divisions which were to meet in Constantinople the following 
were the most important : the volunteers from Provence under 
the papal legate and Coynt Raymond of Toulouse ; inhabitants 
of Germany, particularly of Lorraine, under Godfrey of Bouillon 
and his brother Baldwin, both destined to be rulers of Jerusalem ; 
and lastly, an army of French and of the Normans of southern 
Italy under Bohemond and Tancred.^ 

1 For the routes taken by the different crusading armies see the accompanying map. 



404 



History of Europe 



Upon the arrival of the crusaders at Constantinople it quickly 
became clear that they had not much more in common with the 
''Greeks"^ than with the Turks. Emperor Alexius ordered his 
soldiers to attack Godfrey's army, encamped in the suburbs of 

his capital, because their chief at first 
refused to take the oath of feudal 
homage to him. The emperor's daughter 
Anna, in her history of the times, gives 
a sad picture of the outrageous con- 
duct of the crusaders. They, on the 
other hand, denounced the Greeks as 
traitors, cowards, and liars. 

The Eastern emperor had hoped to 
use his Western allies to reconquer 
Asia Minor and force back the Turks. 
The leading knights, on the contrary, 
dreamed of carving out principalities 
for themselves in the former dominions 
of the emperor and proposed to con- 
trol them by right of conquest. Later 
we find both Greeks and Western 
Christians shamelessly allying them- 
selves with the Mohammedans against 
each other. 

607. Conquest of Jerusalem. The 
first real allies that the crusaders met 
with were the Christian Armenians, 
who gave them aid after their terrible 
march through Asia Minor. With their help Baldwin got pos- 
session of Edessa, of which he made himself prince. The chiefs 
induced the great body of the crusaders to postpone the march 
on Jerusalem, and a year was spent in taking the rich and im- 
portant city of Antioch. Then Raymond of Toulouse set to work 
and conquered a principality for himself on the coast about Tripoli. 




Fig. 97. Knight of the 
First Crusade 

In the time of the Crusades 
knights wore a coat of inter- 
woven iron rings, called a 
hauberk, to protect them- 
selves. Thehabitof using the 
rigid iron plates, of which 
later armor was constructed, 
did not come in until the 
Crusades were over 



1 The people of the Eastern Empire were called Greeks because the Greek language 
continued to be used in Constantinople. 




j^eleucia \ ,i^^aiioch. 



''^^--... 



^ -E A 



\ y3P Tripoli 



\i/sWon=7> 



Alexandria, 




ROUTES OF THE 

CRUSADERS 



First Crusade 
Second Crusade 

. (iFdk. Sariarossa « » ■ ■ 

Taffap' Tfeinisalein .j,^^^ Ciusade -^ Sichani and 

Ascalou/ ' ' I. ^ » 



Damietta 



50 100 



200 



Scale of Miles. 



The Crusades 



40s 



KiNC;iH)j[. 01 



In the spring of 1099 about twenty thousand warriors were 
at last able to move upon Jerusalem. They found the city 
well walled, in the midst of a desolate region where neither 
food nor water nor the materials to construct the siege apparatus 
necessary for the cap- 
ture of the Holy City 
were to be found. 
However, the oppor- 
tune arrival at Jaffa 
of galleys sent from 
Genoa furnished the 
besiegers with sup- 
plies, and, in spite 
of all the difficulties, 
the place was taken in 
a couple of months. 
The crusaders showed 
no mercy to the people 
of the city, but with 
shocking barbarity 
cruelly massacred the 
inhabitants. Godfrey 
of Bouillon was chosen 
ruler of Jerusalem 
and took the modest 
title of "Defender of 
the Holy Sepulcher." 
He soon died and 
was succeeded by his 

brother Baldwin, who left Edessa in iioo to take up the task 
of extending the bounds of the kingdom of Jerusalem. 

608. Founding of Latin Kingdoms in Syria. It will be ob- 
served that the "Franks," as the Mohammedans called all the 
Western folk, had established the centers of four principalities. 
These were Edessa, Antioch, the region about Tripoli conquered 
by Raymond, and the kingdom of Jerusalem. The last was 




FA'n.Mii 1; 



\ ill / 

Is / 

CALII'IIA I V. \'^ / 



yy 



KinffdoTn of Jerusalem %-^-$ 
Counti^ of Tripoli ^3 



PrinHpatity of Antiocti 
County of Edema -.- 
Othtr land areas — 



Map of the Crusaders' States in Syria 



4o6 History of Europe 

further increased by Baldwin, who, with the help of the mariners 
from Venice and Genoa, succeeded in getting possession of Acre, 
Sidon, and a number of other smaller coast towns. 

The news of these Christian victories quickly reached the West, 
and in iioi tens of thousands of new crusaders started eastward. 
Most of them were lost in passing through Asia Minor, and few 
reached their destination. The original conquerors were conse- 
quently left to hold the land against the Saracens and to organize 
their conquests as best they could. This was a very difficult task 
— too difficult to accomplish under the circumstances. 

The permanent hold of the Franks upon the eastern borders 
of the Mediterranean depended upon the strength of the colonies 
which their various princes were able to establish. It is impos- 
sible to learn how many pilgrims from the West made their 
permanent homes in the new Latin principalities. Certainly the 
greater part of those who visited Palestine returned home after 
fulfilling the vow they had made — to kneel at the Holy Sepulcher. 

Still the princes could rely upon a certain number of soldiers 
who would be willing to stay and fight the Mohammedans. 
The Turks, moreover, were so busy fighting one another that they 
showed less energy than might have been expected in attempting 
to drive the Franks from the narrow strip of territory — some five 
hundred miles long and fifty wide — which they had conquered. 
The map on page 405 shows the extent and situation of the 
crusaders' states. 

III. The Religious Orders of the Hospitalers and 

Templars 

609. Military Religious Orders. A noteworthy outcome of 
the crusading movement was the foundation of several curious 
orders, of which the Hospitalers and the Templars were the most 
important. These orders combined the two great interests of the 
time, those of the monk and of the soldier. They permitted a 
man to be both at once ; the knight might wear a monkish cowl 
over his coat of armor. 



The Crusades 



407 



The Hospitalers grew out of a monastic association that was 
formed before the First Crusade for the succor of the poor and 
sick among the pilgrims. Later the society admitted noble 
knights to its membership and became a military order, at the 
same time continuing its care for the sick. This charitable 
association, like the earlier monas- 
teries, received generous gifts of land 
in western Europe and built and con- 
trolled many fortified monasteries in 
the Holy Land itself. After the 
evacuation of Syria in the thirteenth 
century the Hospitalers moved their 
headquarters to the island of Rhodes, 
and later to Malta. The order still 
exists, and it is considered a dis- 
tinction to this day to have the privi- 
lege of wearing its emblem, the cross 
of Malta. 

610. The Templars. Before the 
Hospitalers were transformed into a 
military order a little group of 
French knights banded together in 
1 1 19 to defend pilgrims on their way 
to Jerusalem from the attacks of the 
infidel. They were assigned quarters 
in the king's palace at Jerusalem, 
on the site of the former Temple 
of Solomon ; hence the name '' Tem- 
plars," which they were destined 

to render famous. The "poor soldiers of the Temple" were en- 
thusiastically approved by the Church. They wore a white cloak 
adorned with a red cross, and were under a very strict monastic 
rule which bound them by the vows of obedience, poverty, and 
celibacy. The fame of the order spread throughout Europe, and 
the most exalted, even dukes and princes, were ready to renounce 
the world and serve Christ under its black and white banner. 




Fig. 98. Costume of the 
Hospitalers 

The Hospitaler here repre- 
sented bears the peculiar 
Maltese cross on his bosom. 
His crucifix indicates his reli- 
gious character, but his sword 
and the armor which he wears 
beneath his long gown enabled 
him to fight as well as pray, 
and to succor the wounded 



4o8 History of Europe 

The order was aristocratic from the first, and it soon became 
incredibly rich and independent. It had its collectors in all parts 
of Europe, who dispatched the ''alms" they received to the Grand 
Master at Jerusalem. Towns, churches, and estates were given 
to the order, as well as vast sums of money. The Pope showered 
privileges upon the Templars. They were exempted from tithes 
and taxes and were brought under his immediate jurisdiction; 
they were released from feudal obligations, and bishops were for- 
bidden to excommunicate them for any cause. 

No wonder they grew insolent and aroused the jealousy and 
hate of princes and prelates alike. Early in the fourteenth cen- 
tury, through the combined efforts of the Pope and Philip the 
Fair of France, the order was brought to a terrible end. Its 
members were accused of the most abominable practices, — such 
as the worship of idols and the systematic insulting of Christ 
and his religion. Many distinguished Templars were burned for 
heresy ; others perished miserably in dungeons. The once powerful 
order was abolished and its property confiscated. 

IV. The Second and Later Crusades 

611. The Second and Third Crusades. Fifty years after the 
preaching of the First Crusade, the fall of Edessa (1144), an im- 
portant outpost of the Christians in the East, led to a second 
great expedition. This was forwarded by the great theologian, 
St, Bernard, who went about using his unrivaled eloquence to in- 
duce volunteers to take the cross. In a fierce hymn of battle he 
cried to the Knights Templars : '' The Christian who slays the 
unbeliever in the Holy War is sure of his reward, the more sure if 
he himself be slain. The Christian glories in the death of the 
infidel, because Christ is glorified." The king of France readily 
consented to take the cross, but the emperor, Conrad III, appears 
to have yielded only after St. Bernard had preached before him 
and given a vivid picture of the terrors of the Judgment Day. 

In regard to the less distinguished recruits, a historian of the 
time tells us that so many thieves and robbers hastened to take 



The Crusades 



409 



the cross that everyone felt that such enthusiasm could only be 
the work of God himself. St. Bernard himself, the chief promoter 
of the expedition, gives a most unflattering description of the 
''soldiers of Christ." "In that countless multitude you will find 
few except the utterly wicked and impious, the sacrilegious, homi- 
cides, and perjurers, whose departure is a double gain. Europe 
rejoices to lose them and Palestine to gain them ; they are useful 




Fig. 99. Krak-des-Chevaliers, restored 

This is an example of the strong castles that the crusaders built in Syria. It 
was completed in the form here represented about the year 1200 and lies half- 
way between Antioch and Damascus. It will be noticed that there was a for- 
tress within a fortress. The castle is now in ruins (see headpiece of this chapter) 



in both ways, in their absence from here and their presence there." 
It is unnecessary to describe the movements and fate of these 
crusaders ; suffice it to say that, from a military standpoint, the 
so-called Second Crusade was a miserable failure. 

In the year 1187, forty years later, Jerusalem was recaptured 
by Saladin, the most heroic and distinguished of all the Moham- 
medan rulers of that period. The loss of the Holy City led to 
the most famous of all the military expeditions to the Holy Land, 
in which Frederick Barbarossa ( § 599 ) , Richard the Lion-Hearted 
of England (§550), and his political rival, Philip Augustus of 



4IO 



History of Europe 



France, all took part. The accounts of this Third Crusade show 
that while the several Cl^ristian leaders hated one another heartily 
enough, the Christians and Mohammedans were coming to respect 
one another. We find examples of the most polite relations be- 
tween the representatives of the opposing religions. In 1192 
Richard concluded a truce with Saladin, by the terms of which 
the Christian pilgrims were allowed to visit the holy places in 
safety and comfort. 

612. The Fourth and Subsequent Crusades. In the thirteenth 
century the crusaders began to direct their expeditions toward 

Egypt as the center of 
the Mohammedan power. 
The first of these was 
diverted in an extraor- 
dinary manner by the 
Venetians, who induced 
the crusaders to conquer 
Constantinople for their 
benefit. The further ex- 
peditions of Emperor 
Frederick II (§ 599) 
and St. Louis, king of 
France, need not be de- 
scribed. Jerusalem was 
irrevocably lost in 1244, 
and although the possibility of recovering the city was long con- 
sidered, the Crusades may be said to have come to a close before 
the end of the thirteenth century. 




Fig. 100. Tomb of a Crusader 

The churches of England, France, and Ger- 
many contain numerous figures in stone and 
brass of crusading knights, reposing in full 
armor with shield and sword on their tombs 



V. Chief Results of the Crusades 

613. Settlements of the Italian Merchants. For one class, at 
least, the Holy Land had great and permanent charms, namely, 
the Italian merchants, especially those from Genoa, Venice, and 
Pisa. It was through their early interest and by means of sup- 
plies from their ships that the conquest of the Holy Land had 



The Crusades 411 

been rendered possible. The merchants always made sure that 
they were well paid for their services. When they aided in the 
successful siege of a town they arranged that a definite quarter 
should be assigned to them in the captured place, where they 
might have their market, docks, church, and all that was neces- 
sary for a permanent center for their commerce. This district 
belonged to the town from which the merchants came. Venice 
even sent governors to live in the quarters assigned to its citizens 
in the kingdom of Jerusalem. Marseilles also had independent 
quarters in Jerusalem, and Genoa had its share in the county of 
Tripoli. 

614. Oriental Luxury introduced into Europe. This new 
commerce had a most important influence in bringing the West 
into permanent relations with the Orient. Eastern products from 
India and elsewhere — silks, spices, camphor, musk, pearls, and 
ivory — were brought by the Mohammedans from the East to the 
commercial towns of Palestine and Syria ; then, through the 
Italian merchants, they found their way into France and Ger- 
many, suggesting ideas of luxury hitherto scarcely dreamed of 
by the still half -barbarous Franks. 

615. Effects of the Crusades on Warfare. Moreover, the 
Crusades had a great effect upon the methods of warfare, for the 
soldiers from the West learned from the Greeks about the old 
Roman methods of constructing machines for attacking castles 
and walled towns. This led, as has been pointed out in a previous 
chapter (§§ 522-523), to the construction in western Europe of 
stone castles, first with square towers and later with round ones, 
the remains of which are so common in Germany, France, and 
England. The Crusades also produced heraldry, or the science 
of coats of arms. These were the badges that single knights or 
groups of knights adopted in order to distinguish themselves from 
other people. 

616. Other Results of the Crusades. Some of the results of 
the Crusades upon western Europe must already be obvious, even 
from this very brief account. Thousands and thousands of French- 
men, Germans, and Englishmen had traveled to the Orient by 



412 History of Europe 

land and by sea. Most of them came from hamlets or castles 
where they could never have learned much of the great world 
beyond the confines of their native village or province. They sud- 
denly found themselves in great cities and in the midst of un- 
familiar peoples and customs. This could not fail to make them 
think and give them new ideas to carry home. The Crusade took 
the place of a liberal education. The crusaders came into contact 
with those who knew more than they did, above all the Arabs, 
and brought back with them new notions of comfort and luxury. 
Yet in attempting to estimate the debt of the West to the 
Crusades it should be remembered that many of the new things 
may well have come from Constantinople, or through the Moham- 
medans of Sicily and Spain, ^ quite independently of the armed 
incursions into Syria. Moreover, during the twelfth and thirteenth 
centuries towns were rapidly growing up in Europe, trade and 
manufactures were extending, and the universities were being 
founded. It would be absurd to suppose that without the Crusades 
this progress would not have taken place. So we may conclude 
that the distant expeditions and the contact with strange and 
more highly civilized peoples did no more than hasten the improve- 
ment which was already perceptible before Urban made his ever- 
memorable address at Clermont. 



QUESTIONS 

I. What led to the Crusades ? Describe Urban's speech. What 
was the character of Peter the Hermit's expedition ? 

II. Who were the leaders of the First Crusade ? Describe the cap- 
ture of Jerusalem by the Crusaders. 

III. Who were the Hospitalers ? What was the order of the Temple 
and what became of the Templars ? 

IV. What was the Second Crusade ? Give some particulars in 
regard to the Third Crusade and its leaders. 

V. Give as complete an account as you can of the chief results of 
the Crusades. 

1 The western Europeans derived many important ideas from the Mohammedans in 
Spain, as Arabic numerals, alchemy, algebra, and the use of paper. 



BOOK VI. MEDIEVAL CIVILIZATION 

CHAPTER XXVIII 
THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH AT ITS HEIGHT 

I. Organization and Powers of the Church 

617. General Character of the Medieval Church. In the 
preceding pages it has been necessary to refer constantly to the 
Church and the clergy. Indeed, without them medieval history 
would become almost a blank, for the Church was incomparably 
the most important institution of the time, and the popes, bishops, 
and abbots were the soul of nearly every great enterprise. We 
have already learned something of the rise of the Church and of 
its head, the Pope, as well as the mode of life and the work of the 
monks as they spread over Europe. We have also watched 
the long struggle between the emperors and the popes, in which 
the emperors were finally worsted. We must now consider the 
Medieval Church as a completed institution at the height of its 
power in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. 

We have already had abundant proofs that the Medieval Church 
was very different from our modern churches, whether Catholic 
or Protestant. 

I. In the first place, everyone was required to belong to it, 
just as we all must belong to some country to-day. One was 
not born into the Church, it is true, but he was ordinarily bap- 
tized into it when he was a mere infant. All western Europe 
formed a single religious association, from which it was a crime 
to revolt. To refuse allegiance to the Church, or to question its 
authority or teachings, was regarded as treason against God and 
was punishable with death. 

413 



414 History of Europe 

2. The Medieval Church did not rely for its support, as 
churches usually must to-day, upon the voluntary contributions 
of its members. It enjoyed, in addition to the revenue from its 
vast tracts of lands and a great variety of fees, the income from 
a regular tax, the tithe. Those upon whom this fell were forced 
to pay it, just as we all must now pay taxes imposed by the 
government. 

3. It is clear, moreover, that the Medieval Church was not 
merely a religious body, as churches are to-day. Of course it 
maintained places of worship, conducted devotional exercises, and 
cultivated the religious life ; but it did far more. It was, in a 
way, a State, for it had an elaborate system of law and its own 
courts, in which it tried many cases which are now settled in our 
ordinary courts.^ One may get some idea of the business of the 
church courts from the fact that the Church claimed the right 
to try all cases in which a clergyman was involved or anyone 
connected with the Church or under its special protection, such 
as monks, students, crusaders, widows, orphans, and the helpless. 
Then all cases where the rites of the Church, or its prohibitions, 
were involved came ordinarily before the church courts, as, for 
example, those concerning marriage, wills, sworn contracts, usury, 
blasphemy, sorcery, heresy, and so forth. The Church even had 
its prisons, to which it might sentence offenders for life. 

4. The Church not only performed the functions of a State, 
it had the organization of a State. Unlike the Protestant min- 
isters of to-day, all churchmen and religious associations of medie- 
val Europe were under one supreme head, the Pope (§§ 482-485, 
592-593), who made, laws for all and controlled every church 
officer, wherever he might be, whether in Italy or Germany, 
Spain or Ireland. The whole Church had one official language, 
Latin, in which all communications were written and in which 
its services were everywhere conducted. 



1 The law of the Church was known as the cation law. It was taught in most of the 
universities and practiced by a great number of lawyers. It was based upon the acts of 
the various church councils, from that of Nicaea (a.d. 325) down, and, above all, upon 
the decrees and decisions of the popes. 



The Medieval Church at its Height 415 

618. The Medieval Church a Monarchy. The Medieval 
Church may therefore properly be called a monarchy in its gov- 
ernment. The Pope was its all-powerful and absolute head. He 
was the supreme lawgiver. He might set aside or repeal any law 
of the Church, no matter how ancient, so long as he did not be- 
lieve it to be ordained by the Scriptures or by Nature. He might, 
for good reasons, make exceptions to all merely human laws ; as, 
for instance, permit cousins to marry, or free a monk from his 
vows. Such exceptions were known as dispensations. 

The Pope was not merely the supreme lawgiver,- he was the 
supreme judge. Anyone, whether clergyman or layman, in any 
part of Europe could appeal to him at any stage in the trial of 
a large class of cases. Obviously this system had serious draw- 
backs. Grave injustice might be done by carrying to Rome a 
case which ought to have been settled in Edinburgh or Cologne, 
where the facts were best known. The rich, moreover, always 
had the advantage, as they alone could afford to bring suits be- 
fore so distant a court. 

The control of the Pope over all parts of the Christian Church 
was exercised by his legates. These papal ambassadors were in- 
trusted with great powers. Their haughty mien sometimes of- 
fended the prelates and rulers to whom they brought home the 
authority of the Pope, — as, for instance, when the legate Pandulf 
grandly absolved all the subjects of King John of England, be- 
fore his very face, from their oath of fealty to him (§ 552). 

The task assumed by the Pope of governing the whole Western 
world naturally made it necessary to create a large body of 
officials at Rome in order to transact all the multiform business 
and prepare and transmit the innumerable legal documents.^ The 
cardinals and the Pope's officials constituted what was called the 
papal curia, or court. 

619. Sources of the Pope's Income. To carry on his govern- 
ment, and to meet the expenses of palace and retinue, the Pope had 
need of a vast income. This he secured from various sources. 

1 Many of the edicts, decisions, and orders of the popes were called bulls, from the 
seal (Latin, bulla) attached to them. 



41 6 History of Europe 

Heavy fees were exacted from those who brought cases to his 
court for decision. The archbishops, bishops, and abbots were 
expected to make generous contributions when the Pope con- 
firmed their election. In the thirteenth century the Pope himself 
began to fill many benefices throughout Europe, and he custom- 
arily received half the first year's revenues from those whom 
he appointed. For several centuries before the Protestants finally 
threw off their allegiance to the popes there was widespread com- 
plaint on the part of both clergy and laymen that the fees and 
taxes levied -by the Roman curia were excessive. 

620. The Archbishops and Bishops. Next in order below 
the head of the Church were the archbishops and bishops. An 
archbishop was a bishop whose power extended beyond the 
boundaries of his own diocese and who exercised a certain control 
over all the bishops within his province. 

There is perhaps no class of persons in medieval times whose 
position it is so necessary to understand as that of the bishops. 
They were regarded as the successors of the apostles, whose pow- 
ers were held to be divinely transmitted to them. They repre- 
sented the Church Universal in their respective dioceses, under 
the supreme headship of their "elder brother," the Pope, the 
bishop of Rome, the successor of the chief of the apostles. Their 
insignia of office, the miter and crosier, are familiar to everyone 
(see tailpiece at end of this chapter). Each bishop had his es- 
pecial church, which was called a cathedral and usually surpassed 
the other churches of the diocese in size and beauty. 

In addition to the oversight of his diocese, it was the bishop's 
business to look after the lands and other possessions which be- 
longed to the bishopric. Lastly, the bishop was usually a feudal 
lord, with the obligations which that implied. He might have 
vassals and subvassals, and often was himself a vassal, not only 
of the king but also of some neighboring lord. 

621. The Parish Priest and his Duties. The lowest division 
of the Church was the parish. At the head of the parish was the 
parish priest, who conducted services in the parish church and ab- 
solved, baptized, married, and buried his parishioners. The priests 



The Medieval Church at its Height 



417 



were supposed to be supported by the lands belonging to the 
parish church and by the tithes. But both of these sources of 
income were often in the hands of laymen or of a neighboring 
monastery, while the poor priest received the merest pittance, 
scarcely sufficient to keep soul and body together. 

622. Reasons for the Great Power of Clergymen in the 
Middle Ages. The influence of the clergy was greatly increased 




Fig. 1 01. Canterbury Cathedral 

The bishop's church was called a cathedral, because in it stood the bishop's 

chair, or throne (LaXin, cathedra). It was therefore much more imposing 

ordinarily than the parish churches, although sometimes the abbey churches 

belonging to rich monasteries vied with the bishop's church in beauty 

by the fact that they alone were educated. For six or seven 
centuries after the break-up of the Roman Empire very few 
outside of the clergy ever dreamed of studying, or even of 
learning to read and write. Even in the thirteenth century an 
offender who wished to prove that he belonged to the clergy, in 
order that he might be tried by a church court, had only to show 
that he could read a single line ; for it was assumed by the 
judges that no one unconnected with the Church could read at all. 
It was therefore inevitable that all the teachers were clergy- 
men, that almost all the books were written by priests and monks, 



41 8 History of Europe 

and that the clergy was the ruling power in all intellectual, artistic, 
and literary matters — the chief guardians and promoters of civili- 
zation. Moreover, the civil government was forced to rely upon 
churchmen to write out the public documents and proclamations. 
The priests and monks held the pen for the king. Representatives 
of the clergy sat in the king's councils and acted as his ministers ; 
in fact, the conduct of the government largely devolved upon them. 
The offices in the Church were open to all ranks of men, and 
many of the popes themselves sprang from the humblest classes. 
The Church thus constantly recruited its ranks with fresh blood. 
No one held an office simply because his father had held it before 
him, as was the case in the civil government. 

623. Excommunication and Interdict. No wonder that the 
churchmen were by far the most powerful class in the Middle 
Ages. They controlled great wealth ; they alone were educated ; 
it was believed they held the keys of the kingdom of heaven and 
without their aid no one could hope to enter in. By excommuni- 
cation they could cast out the enemies of the Church and could 
forbid all men to associate with them, since they were accursed. 
By means of the interdict they could suspend all religious cere- 
monies in a whole city or country by closing the church doors 
and prohibiting all public services. 

II. The Heretics and the Inquisition 

624. Rebels against the Church : Heresy. Nevertheless, in 
spite of the power and wonderful organization of the Church, a 
few people began to revolt against it as early as the time of Greg- 
ory VII, and the number of these rebels continued to increase 
as time went on. Popular leaders arose who declared that no 
one ought any longer to rely upon the Church for his salvation ; 
that all its elaborate ceremonies were worse than useless ; that its 
Masses, holy water, and relics were mere money-getting devices 
of a sinful priesthood and helped no one to heaven. 

Those who questioned the teachings of the Church and pro- 
posed to cast off its authority were, according to the accepted 



The Medieval Church at its Height 419 

view of the time, guilty of the supreme crime of heresy. Heretics 
were of two sorts. One class merely rejected the practices and 
some of the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church while they 
remained Christians and endeavored to imitate as nearly as pos- 
sible the simple life of Christ and the apostles. 

625. The Waldensians. Amon'g those who continued to accept 
the Christian faith but refused to obey the clergy the most im- 
portant sect was that of the Waldensians, which took its rise 
about 1 1 75. These were followers of Peter Waldo of Lyons, who 
gave up all their property and lived a life of apostolic poverty. 
They went about preaching the Gospel and explaining the Scrip- 
tures, which they translated from Latin into the language of the 
people. They made many converts, and before the end of the 
twelfth century there were great numbers of them scattered 
throughout western Europe. 

626. The Albigensians. On the other hand, there were popular 
leaders who taught that the Christian religion itself was false. 
They held that there were two principles in the universe, the 
good and the evil, which were forever fighting for the victory. 
They asserted that the Jehovah of the Old Testament was really 
the evil power, and that it was, therefore, the evil power whom 
the Catholic Church worshiped. These heretics were often called 
Albigensians, a name derived from the town of Albi in southern 
France, where they were very numerous. Their teachings were, 
however, old, common before the break-up of the Roman Empire. 

It is very difficult for us who live in a time of religious tolera- 
tion to understand the universal and deep-rooted horror of heresy 
which long prevailed in Europe. But we must recollect that to the 
orthodox believer in the Church nothing could exceed the guilt of 
one who committed treason against God by rejecting the religion 
which had been handed down in the Roman Church from the im- 
mediate followers of his Son. Moreover, doubt and unbelief were 
not merely sin ; they were revolt against the most powerful social 
institution of the time, which, in spite of the sins of some of its 
officials, continued to be venerated by people at large through- 
out western Europe. 



420 History of Europe 

In southern France there were many adherents of both the 
Albigensians and the Waldensians, especially in the county of 
Toulouse, At the beginning of the thirteenth century there was 
in this region an open contempt for the Church, and bold heretical 
teachings were heard even among the higher classes. 

Against the people of this flourishing land Pope Innocent III 
preached a crusade in 1208. An army marched from northern 
France into the doomed region and, after one of the most atrocious 
and bloody wars upon record, suppressed the heresy by wholesale 
slaughter. At the same time, the war checked the civilization and 
destroyed the prosperity of the most enlightened portion of France. 

627. The Inquisition. The most permanent defense of the 
Church against heresy was the establishment, under the headship 
of the Pope, of a system of courts designed to ferret out secret 
cases of unbelief and bring the offenders to punishment. These 
courts, which devoted their whole attention to the discovery and 
conviction of heretics, were called the Holy Inquisition, which 
gradually took form after the Albigensian crusade. The unfair- 
ness of the trials and the cruel treatment of those suspected of 
heresy, through long imprisonment or torture, — inflicted with the 
hope of forcing them to confess their crime or to implicate others, 
— have rendered the name of the Inquisition infamous. 

Without by any means attempting to defend the methods em- 
ployed, it may be remarked that the inquisitors were often earnest 
and upright men, and the methods of procedure of the Inquisition 
were not more cruel than those used in the secular courts of 
the period. 

The assertion of the suspected person that he was not a heretic 
did not receive any attention, for it was assumed that he would 
naturally deny his guilt, as would any other criminal. A person's 
belief had, therefore, to be judged by outward acts. Consequently 
one might fall into the hands of the Inquisition by mere accidental 
conversation with a heretic, by some unintentional neglect to 
show due respect toward the Church rites, or by the malicious 
testimony of one's neighbors. This is really the most terrible 
aspect of the Inquisition and its procedure. 



The Medieval Church at its Height 42 1 

If the suspected person confessed his guilt and abjured his 
heresy, he was forgiven and received back into the Church ; but 
a penance of life imprisonment was imposed upon him as a fitting 
means of wiping away the unspeakable sin of which he had been 
guilty. If he persisted in his heresy he was "relaxed to the 
secular arm" ; that is to say, the Church, whose law forbade it 
to shed blood, handed over the convicted person to the civil power, 
which burned him alive without further trial. 

III. The Franciscans and Dominicans 

628. Founding of the Mendicant Orders. We may now turn 
to that far more cheerful and effective method of meeting the 
opponents of the Church, which may be said to have been dis- 
covered by St. Francis of Assisi. His teachings and the example 
of his beautiful life probably did far more to secure continued al- 
legiance to the Church than all the harsh devices of the Inquisition. 

We have seen how the Waldensians tried to better the world 
by living simple lives and preaching the Gospel. Owing to the 
disfavor of the Church authorities, who declared their teachings 
erroneous and dangerous, they were prevented from publicly 
carrying on their missionary work. Yet all conscientious men 
agreed with the Waldensians that the world was in a sad plight, 
owing to the negligence and the misdeeds of the clergy. St. Francis 
and St. Dominic strove to meet the needs of their time by in- 
venting a new kind of clergyman, the begging brother, or " mendi- 
cant friar" (from the Latin jrater, "brother"). He was to do 
just what the bishops and parish priests often failed to do — 
namely, lead a holy life of self-sacrifice, defend the Church's 
beliefs against the attacks of the heretics, and awaken the people 
to a new religious life. The founding of the mendicant orders 
is one of the most interesting events of the Middle Ages. 

629. St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226) and his Order. There 
is no more lovely and fascinating figure in all history than 
St. Francis. He was born (probably in 1182) at Assisi, a little 
town in central Italy. He was the son of a well-to-do merchant, 



422 History of Europe 

and during his early youth he lived a very gay life, spending 
his father's money freely. He read the French romances of the 
time and dreamed of imitating the brave knights whose adven- 
tures they described. Although his companions were wild and 
reckless, there was a delicacy and chivalry in Francis's own make- 
up which made him hate all things coarse and heartless. When 
later he voluntarily became a beggar, his ragged cloak still cov- 
ered a true poet and knight. 

The contrast between his own life of luxury and the sad state 
of the poor early afflicted him. When he was about twenty, after 
a long and serious illness which made a break in his gay life 
and gave him time to think, he suddenly lost his love for the 
old pleasures and began to consort with the destitute, above all 
with lepers. His father does not appear to have had any fond- 
ness whatever for beggars, and the relations between him and his 
son grew more and more strained. When finally he threatened to 
disinherit the young man, Francis cheerfully agreed to surrender 
all right to his inheritance. Stripping off his clothes and giving 
them back to his father, he accepted the worn-out garment of a 
gardener and became a homeless hermit, busying himself in re- 
pairing the dilapidated chapels near Assisi. 

He soon began to preach in a simple way, and before long a 
rich fellow townsman resolved to follow Francis's example — 
sell his all and give to the poor. Others soon joined them, and 
these joyous converts, free of worldly burdens, went barefoot 
and penniless about central Italy preaching the Gospel instead 
of shutting themselves up in a monastery. 

When, with a dozen followers, Francis appealed to the Pope 
in 1 2 10 for his approval, Pope Innocent III hesitated. He did 
not believe that anyone could lead a life of absolute poverty. 
Moreover, might not these ragged, ill-kempt vagabonds seem to 
condemn the Church by adopting a life so different from that 
of the rich and comfortable clergy ? Yet if he disapproved the 
friars he would seem to disapprove at the same time Christ's direc- 
tions to his apostles. He finally decided to authorize the brethren 
to continue their missions. 



The Medieval Church at its Height 423 

630. Missionary Work undertaken. Seven years later, when 
Francis's followers had greatly increased in numbers, missionary 
work was begun on a large scale, and brethren were dispatched 
to Germany, Hungary, France, Spain, and even to Syria. It 
was not long before an English chronicler was telling with wonder 
of the arrival in his country of these barefoot men, in their 
patched gowns and with ropes about their waists, who, with 
Christian faith, took no thought for the morrow, believing that 
their Heavenly Father knew what things they had need of, 

631. Francis did not desire to found a Powerful Order. 
As time went on, Ihe success of their missionary work led the 
Pope to bestow many privileges upon them. It grieved Francis, 
however, to think of his little band of companions being con- 
verted into a great and powerful order. He foresaw that they 
would soon cease to lead their simple, holy life and would become 
ambitious and perhaps rich. ''I, little Brother Francis," he 
writes, " desire to follow the life and the poverty of Jesus Christ, 
persevering therein until the end ; and I beg you all and exhort 
you to persevere always in this most holy life of poverty, and 
take good care never to depart from it upon the advice and 
teachings of anyone whomsoever." 

After the death of St. Francis (1226) many of the order, 
which now numbered several thousand members, wished to main- 
tain the simple rule of absolute poverty ; others, including the 
new head of the order, believed that much good might be done 
with the wealth which people were anxious to give them. They 
argued that the individual friars might still remain absolutely 
possessionless even if the order had beautiful churches and com- 
fortable monasteries. So a stately church was immediately con- 
structed at Assisi to receive the remains of their humble founder, 
who in his lifetime had chosen a deserted hovel for his home ; 
and a great chest was set up in the church to receive the offerings 
of those who desired to give. 

632. The Founding of the Dominican Order. St. Dominic 
(b. 1 1 70), the Spanish founder of the other great mendicant order, 
was not a simple layman like Francis. He was a churchman 



424 History oj Europe 

and took a regular course of instruction in theology for ten 
years in a Spanish university. He then (1208) accompanied his 
bishop to southern France on the eve of the Albigensian crusade 
and was deeply shocked to see the prevalence of heresy. His 
host at Toulouse happened to be an Albigensian, and Dominic 
spent the night in converting him. He then and there determined 
to devote his life to fighting heresy. 

By 12 14 a few sympathetic spirits from various parts of Eu- 
rope had joined Dominic, and they asked Pope Innocent III to 
sanction their new order. The Pope again hesitated, but is said 
to have dreamed a dream in which he save the great Roman 
Church of the Lateran tottering and ready to fall had not Dominic 
supported it on his shoulders. He interpreted this as meaning 
that the new organization might sometime become a great aid 
to the papacy, and gave it his approval. As soon as possible 
Dominic sent forth his followers, of whom there were but sixteen, 
to evangelize the world, just as the Franciscans were undertaking 
their first missionary journeys. By 122 1 the Dominican order 
was thoroughly organized and had sixty monasteries scattered 
over western Europe." 

"Wandering on foot over the face of Europe, under burning 
suns or chilling blasts, rejecting alms in money but receiving 
thankfully whatever coarse food might be set before the way- 
farer, enduring hunger in silent resignation, taking no thought 
for the morrow, but busied eternally in the work of snatching 
souls from Satan and lifting men up from the sordid cares of 
daily life " — in this way did the early Franciscans and Dominicans 
win the love and veneration of the people. 

The Dominicans were called the "Preaching Friars" and were 
carefully trained in theology in order the better to refute the 
arguments of the heretics. The Pope delegated to them especially 
the task of conducting the Inquisition. They early began to 
extend their influence over the universities, and the two most dis- 
tinguished theologians and teachers of the thirteenth century, Al- 
bertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas, were Dominicans. Among the 
Franciscans, on the other band, there was always a considerable 



The Medieval Church at its Height 425 

party who were suspicious of learning and who showed a 
greater desire to remain absolutely poor than did the Dominicans. 
Yet as a whole the Franciscans, like the Dominicans, accepted 
the wealth that came to them, and they too contributed dis- 
tinguished scholars to the universities. 

IV. Church and State 

633. Chief Sources of Difficulty between Church and State. 
We have seen that the Medieval Church was a single great insti- 
tution with its head, the Pope, at Rome and its officers in all the 
countries of western Europe. It had its laws, law courts, taxes, 
and even prisons, just like the various kings and other rulers. In 
general, the kings were ready to punish everyone who revolted 
against the Church. Indeed, the State depended upon the church- 
men in many ways. It was the churchmen who wrote out the 
documents which the king required ; they took care of the schools, 
aided the poor, and protected the weak. They tried, by issuing 
the Truce of God (§ 534), to discourage neighborhood warfare, 
which the kings were unable to stop. 

But as the period of disorder drew to an end and the kings and 
other rulers got the better of the feudal lords and established 
peace in their realms, they began to think that the Church had 
become too powerful and too rich. Certain difficulties arose of 
which the following were the most important : 

1. Should the king or the Pope have the advantage of selecting 
the bishops and the abbots of rich monasteries ? Naturally both 
were anxious to place their friends and supporters in these in- 
fluential positions. Moreover, the Pope, like the king, could claim 
a considerable contribution from those whom he appointed, and 
the king naturally grudged him the money (compare §§ 586-590). 

2. How far might the king venture to tax the lands and other 
property of the Church ? Was this vast amount of wealth to go 
on increasing and yet make no contribution to the support of the 
government ? The churchmen usually maintained that they 
needed all their money to carry on the church, services, keep 



426 History of Europe 

up the churches and monasteries, take care of the schools, and aid 
the poor, for the State left them to bear all these necessary bur- 
dens. The law of the Church permitted the churchmen to make 
voluntary gifts to the king when there was urgent necessity. 

3, Then there was trouble over the cases to be tried in the 
church courts and the claim of churchmen to be tried only by 
clergymen. Worst of all was the habit of appealing cases to 
Rome, for the Pope would often decide the matter in exactly the 
opposite way from which the king's court had decided it. 

4. Lastly there was the question of how far the Pope as head 
of the Christian Church had a right to interfere with the govern- 
ment of a particular state, when he did not approve of the way 
in which a king was acting. The powers of the Pope were very 
great, everyone admitted, but even the most devout Catholics 
differed somewhat as to just how great they were. 

We have seen some illustrations of these troubles in the chapter 
on the Popes and Emperors. 

634. Edward I and Philip the Fair propose to tax the Clergy. 
It was natural after a monarch had squeezed all that he could 
out of the Jews and the towns, and had exacted every possible 
feudal due, that he should turn to the rich estates of the clergy, 
in spite of their claim that their property was dedicated to God 
and owed the king nothing. The extensive enterprises of Edward I 
(§§ 559 ff-) led him in 1296 to demand one fifth of the personal 
property of the clergy. 

Philip the Fair of France exacted one hundredth and then one 
fiftieth of the possessions of clergy and laity alike. This led to a 
bitter conflict between the French king and Pope Boniface VIII 
about the year 1300. The Pope at first forbade all such payments 
but was in the end forced to permit the clergy to pay their feudal 
dues and make loans to the king. 

In spite of this setback the Pope never seemed more completely 
the recognized head of the Western world than during the first 
great jubilee, in the year 1300, when Boniface called together all 
Christendom to celebrate the opening of the new century by a 
great religious festival at Rome. It is reported that two millions 



The Medieval Church at its Height 427 

of people, coming from all parts of Europe, visited the churches 
of Rome, and that in spite of widening the streets many were 
crushed in the crowd. So great was the influx of money into the 
papal treasury that two assistants were kept busy with rakes col- 
lecting the offerings which were deposited at the tomb of St. Peter. 

635. The Babylonian Captivity of the Church. After the 
death of Boniface (1303) King Philip proposed to have no more 
trouble with popes. He arranged in 1305 to have the French 
Archbishop of Bordeaux chosen head of the Church, with the 
understanding that he should transfer the papacy from Rome 
to France. The new Pope accordingly summoned the cardinals 
to meet him at Lyons, where he was crowned under the title of 
"Clement V." He remained in France during his whole pontif- 
icate, moving from one rich abbey to another. 

His successors took up their residence in the town of Avignon, 
just outside the French frontier of those days. There they built 
a sumptuous palace in which successive popes lived in great 
splendor for sixty years. 

The prolonged exile of the popes from Rome, lasting from 1305 
to 1377, is commonly called the Babylonian Captivity^ of the 
Church, on account of the woes attributed to it. The popes of 
this period were for the most part good and earnest men ; but 
they were all Frenchmen, and the proximity of their court to 
France led to the natural suspicion that they were controlled by 
the French kings. This, together with their luxurious court, 
brought them into discredit with the other nations, above all with 
the English and the Germans. 

At Avignon the popes were naturally deprived of some of the 
revenue which they had enjoyed from their Italian possessions 
when they lived at Rome. This deficiency had to be made up by 
increased taxation, especially as the expenses of the splendid 
papal court were very heavy. The papacy was, consequently, 
rendered unpopular by the various new methods employed to 
raise money. 

1 The name recalled, of course, the long exile of the Jews from their land (see 
above, §§ iio-iii). 



42 8 



History of Europe 



636. Statute of Pro visors (1352). The papal exactions met 
with the greatest opposition in England because the popes were 
thought to favor France, with which country the English were 
at war. A law was passed by Parliament in 1352, ordering that 



n 




ti. 't:^.i ^ 

-..b^^ffp "lip"' 

<tx-tooia:aO!m> 

aaagtlbtftjc ciesrD f&isL mm 
p\ tK# os^ b'tfojf !'« o^ Bo/W 
of iiiitotpnfit ratEftwt.tmSKetef 

ferctbafmfuigt i-'iHcdhuige£ctep 
■ t^HoiOf pcttaaDtcmtttrmiaSmin 
;«f C^m»-'C w aUcMun of tcrofe 
i«! UKitttn out to l}i>m -* aUt pr 
omtwof^ jaff- 1 tserni i»aj»t«f a of 
fi^m in w aoDi'i aPjfiimniaiotBc 

rtJyja is'^K" of ffflnciis « Mpr^ 
Utf of 0rta4l)0titt(fis tcmflrt-itiB 
•tertetoiBftst (/mjjtof ;>f ojootr.' 
ir|ct)i«fnitejt'.<teO(wmmnf 
frtjal conic afnrtnf-''Bfttf)oni| few i 




tf$ ni w pe oe ««pmi»ft Oemt 
^epfdjo^.-suo trtttsceiipto h« 
(Tottic ttcfl&cntK'f (jcHjal atafe? 
?outo'bt txmot^)(it^zcpQ ct mc 
^tttD auootvf«-Bftfl« ha&Kco.- 

-jjeai^ie aw^&ttp»jauipso€stt)f 

«t-» iooii (}l? W>»t«?f ncnx tfa p*" 

iDOftualtmgt; uc<ttd.AMOftna)n 

lybcricpiOeljeiiuJCno teij.cfflttjttfe.^ 

fltioott wpc Caj)ot6» iicgOM.ia 
to vc ^mgos^.-tdrnt^em-itaa 
p?t uiojiijirttnottin* tffWngc. 
^opcju i)f Tpastedj>a«t^cra 
I ^tmjiimf potBcr.tS&tttW- a» cc^ 
; jr-iiD Tu t» P Cjmflffo (tr f OtttttU 
IfttCTftH ni emvndem Cpyvpt-- 



Fig. 102. Page from Wycliffe's Translation of the Bible 

This is the upper half of the first page of the Gospel according to Mark and 
contains verses 1-7 and 15-23. The scribe of the time made /, y, and t/i in 
something the same way. The page begins : " The bigynninge of the gospel 
of ihusu crist, the sone of god. As it is writen in isaie, the prophete, Loo, I 
send myn aungel bifore thi face, that schal make thi weie redi bifore thee. 
The voice of one crying in deseert, make thee redi the weie of the lord, make 
thee his pathis ryghtful. Joon was in deseert baptizinge and prechinge the 
baptism of penaunce in to remissioun of sinnes." While the spelling is some- 
what different from ours it is clear that the language used by Wycliffe closely 
resembled that used in the familiar authorized version of the New Testament, 
made two centuries and a half later 



all who procured a church office from the Pope should be outlawed, 
since they were enemies of the king and his realm. This and 
similar laws failed, however, to prevent the Pope from filling 
English benefices. The English king was unable to keep the 



The Medieval Church at its Height 429 

money of his realm from flowing to Avignon, and at the meeting 
of the English Parliament held in 1376 a report was made to the 
effect that the taxes levied by the Pope in England were five 
times those raised by the king. 

637. John Wycliffe. The most famous and conspicuous critic 
of the Pope at this time was John Wycliffe, a teacher at Oxford, 
He was born about 1320, but we know little of him before 1366, 
when Pope Urban V demanded that England should pay the 
tribute promised by King John when he became the Pope's vassal 
(§ 552). Parliament declared that John had no right to bind the 
people without their consent, and Wycliffe began his career of 
opposition to the papacy by trying to prove that John's agreement 
was void. About ten years later we find the Pope issuing bulls 
against the teachings of Wycliffe, who had begun to assert that 
the State might appropriate the property of the Church, if it was 
misused, and that the Pope had no authority except as he acted 
according to the Gospel. Soon Wycliffe went further and boldly 
attacked the papacy itself, as well as many of the Church 
institutions. 

Wycliffe's anxiety to teach the people led him to have the Bible 
translated into English. An example of his language is given on 
the previous page. He also prepared a great number of sermons 
and tracts in English. He is the father of English prose, for we 
have little in English before his time, except poetry. 

Wycliffe and his "simple priests" were charged with encour- 
aging the discontent and disorder which culminated in the Peas- 
ants' Revolt, which occurred not long before his death (§ 572). 
Whether this charge was true or not, it caused many of his fol- 
lowers to fall away from him. But in spite of this and the de- 
nunciations of the Church, Wycliffe was not seriously interfered 
with and died peaceably in 1384. Wycliffe is remarkable as being 
the first distinguished scholar and reformer to repudiate the head- 
ship of the Pope and those practices of the Church of Rome which 
more than a century after his death were attacked by Luther 
in his successful revolt against the Medieval Church. This will be 
discussed in a later chapter. 



430 



History of Europe 



QUESTIONS 

I. In what ways did the Medieval Church differ from the modem 
churches with which we are famiUar ? In what ways did the Medieval 
Church resemble a State ? What were the powers of the Pope ? What 
were the duties of a bishop in the Middle Ages ? Why was the clergy 
the most powerful class in the Middle Ages ? 

II. What were the views of the Waldensians ? of the Albigensians ? 
What was the Inquisition ? 

III. Narrate briefly the life of St. Francis. Did the Franciscan order 
continue to follow the wishes of its founder ? Contrast the Domini- 
cans with the Franciscans. 

IV. What were the chief subjects of disagreement between the 
Church and the State ? Describe the conflict between Boniface VIII 
and Philip the Fair. How did the Babylonian Captivity come about ? 
What were some of the results of the sojourn of the popes at Avignon ? 
What were the views of John Wycliffe ? 

Note. The tailpiece of this chapter represents an English bishop ordaining a priest 
and is taken from a manuscript of Henry Il's time. The bishop is wearing his miter 
and holds his pastoral staff, the crosier, in his left hand while he raises his right, in 
blessing, over the priest's head. 





CHAPTER XXIX 



MEDIEVAL TOWNS -THEIR BUSINESS AND BUILDINGS 



I. The Towns and Guilds 

638. Reappearance of Towns and their Importance. In 

discussing the Middle Ages we have hitherto dealt mainly with 
kings and emperors, and with the popes and the Church of which 
they were the chief rulers ; we have also described the monks and 
monasteries, the warlike feudal lords and their castles, and the 
hard-working serfs who farmed the manors ; but nothing has been 
said about the people who lived in the towns. 

Towns have always been the chief centers of progress and en- 
lightenment, for the simple reason that people must live close to- 
gether in large numbers before they can develop business on a 
large scale, carry on trade with foreign countries, establish good 
schools and universities, erect noble public buildings, support 
libraries and museums and art galleries. One does not find these 
in the country, for the people outside the towns are too scattered 
and usually too poor to have the things that are common enough 
in large cities. 

One of the chief peculiarities of the early Middle Ages, from 
the break-up of the Roman Empire to the time of William the 
Conqueror, was the absence of large and flourishing towns in 
western Europe^ and this fact alone would serve to explain why 
there was so little progress. 

431 



432 History of Europe 

The Roman towns were decreasing in population before the 
German inroads. The confusion which followed the invasions 
hastened their decline, and a great number of them disappeared 
altogether. Those which survived and such new towns as sprang 
up were of little importance during the early Middle Ages. Dur- 
ing the long period from Theodoric to Frederick Barbarossa, over 
six centuries, by far the greater part of the population of England, 
Germany, and northern and central France were living in the 
country, on the great estates belonging to the feudal lords, abbots, 
and bishops.^ 

A great part of the medieval towns, of which we begin to have 
some scanty records about the year looo, appear to have origi- 
nated on the manors of feudal lords or about a monastery or 
castle (Fig. 103). The French name for town, ville, is derived 
from "vill," the name of the manor, and we use this old Roman 
word when we call a town Jacksonville or lia.Tnsville. The need 
of protection was probably the usual reason for establishing a 
town with walls about it, so that the townspeople and the neigh- 
boring country people might find safety within it when attacked 
by neighboring feudal lords, 

639. Compactness of a Medieval Town. The way in which 
a medieval town was built seems to justify this conclusion (see 
headpiece of this chapter — the German town of Siegen as it 
formerly looked) . It was generally crowded and compact compared 
with its more luxurious Roman predecessors. Aside from the 
market place there were few or no open spaces. There were no 
amphitheaters or public baths as in the Roman cities. The streets 
were often mere alleys over which the jutting stories of the high 
houses almost met. The high, thick wall that surrounded it pre- 
vented its extending easily and rapidly as our cities do nowadays. 

640. Townsmen originally Serfs. All towns outside of Italy 
(§ 598) were small in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, and, 
like the manors on which they had grown up, they had little com- 
merce as yet with the outside world. They produced almost all 

1 In Italy and southern France town life was doubtless more general than in northern 
Europe. 



r 



Medieval Towns — their Business and Buildings 433 



that their inhabitants needed except the farm products which 
came from the neighboring country. There was likely to be little 
expansion as long as the town remained under the absolute control 
of the lord or monastery upon whose land it was situated. The 
townspeople were scarcely more than serfs, in spite of the fact 

s.?» Ciy x\.- . ''~--'i '■^ 










Fig. 103. A Castle with a Village below it 

A village was pretty sure to grow up near the castle of a powerful lord and 
might gradually become a large town 

that they lived within a wall and were traders and artisans in- 
stead of farmers. They had to pay irritating dues to their lord, 
just as if they still formed a farming community. 

With the increase of trade (see below, §§,643-648) came the 
longing for greater freedom. For when new and attractive com- 
modities began to be brought ,from the East and the South, the 
people of the towns were encouraged to make things which they 
could exchange at some neighboring fair for the products of 



434 History of Europe 

distant lands. But no sooner did the townsmen begin to engage 
in manufacturing and to enter into relations with the outside 
world than they became aware that they were subject to exactions 
and restrictions which rendered progress impossible. 

Consequently, during the twelfth century there were many in- 
surrections of the towns against their lords, and there was a gen- 
eral demand that the lords should grant the townsmen charters in 
which the rights of both parties should be definitely stated. 

641. Town Charters. These charters were written contracts 
between the lord and the town government, which served at once 
as the certificate of birth of the town and as its constitution. The 
old dues and services which the townspeople owed as serfs (see 
above, § 525) were either abolished or changed into money 
payments. 

As a visible sign of their freedom many of the towns had a 
belfry, a high building with a watchtower, where a guard was 
kept day and night in order that the bell might be rung in case 
of approaching danger (see headpiece of this chapter). It con- 
tained an assembly hall, where those who governed the town held 
their meetings, and a prison. In the fourteenth century the won- 
derful town halls began to be erected, which, with the exception 
of the cathedrals and other churches, are usually the most re- 
markable buildings which the traveler sees to-day in the old 
commercial cities of Europe. 

642. The Guilds. The tradesmen in the medieval towns were 
at once manufacturers and merchants ; that is, they made, as well 
as offered for sale, the articles which they kept in their shops. 
Those who belonged to a particular trade — the bakers, the butch- 
ers, the sword-makers, the armorers, etc. — formed unions or 
guilds to protect their special interests. The oldest statutes of a 
guild in Paris are those of the candle-makers, which go back to 
1 06 1. The number. of trades differed greatly in different towns, 
but the guilds all had the same object — to prevent anyone from 
practicing a trade who had not been duly admitted to the union. 

A young man had to spend several years in learning his trade. 
During this time he lived in the house of a '' master workman " as 




J"iG. 104. Street in Quimper, France 

None of the streets in even the oldest European towns look just as they did 
in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, but here and there, as in this town of 
Brittany, one can still get some idea of the narrow, cramped streets and over- 
hanging houses and the beautiful cathedral crowded in among them 



436 History of Europe 

an '' apprentice," but received no remuneration. He then became 
a "journeyman" and could earn wages, although he was still 
allowed to work only fo.r master workmen and not directly for 
the public. A simple trade might be learned in three years, but 
to become a goldsmith one must be an apprentice for ten years. 
The number of apprentices that a master workman might employ 
was strictly limited, in order that the journeymen might not be- 
come too numerous. 

The way in which each trade was to be practiced was carefully 
regulated, as well as the time that should be spent in work each 
day. The system of guilds discouraged enterprise but maintained 
uniform standards everywhere. Had it not been for these unions 
the defenseless, isolated workmen, serfs as they had formerly 
been, would have found it impossible to secure freedom and 
municipal independence from the feudal lords who had formerly 
been their masters. 

II. Business in the Later Middle Ages 

643. Revival of Business. The chief reason for the growth 
of the towns and their increasing prosperity was a great develop- 
ment of trade throughout western Europe. Commerce had pretty 
much disappeared with the decline of the Roman roads and the 
general disorganization produced by the barbarian invasions. In 
the early Middle Ages there was no one to mend the ancient 
Roman thoroughfares. The great network of highways from Persia 
to Britain fell apart when independent nobles or poor local com- 
munities took the place of a world empire. All trade languished, 
for there was little demand for those articles of luxury which the 
Roman communities in the North had been accustomed to obtain 
from the South, and there was but little money to buy what we 
should consider the comforts of life ; even the nobility lived un- 
comfortably enough in their dreary and rudely furnished castles. 

644. Italian Cities trade with the Orient. In Italy, however, 
trade does not seem to have altogether ceased. Venice, Genoa, 
Amalfi, and other towns appear to have developed a considerable 



Medieval Towns — their Business and Buildings 437 

Mediterranean commerce even before the Crusades (see map 
above, p. 396). Their merchants, as we have seen, suppHed the 
destitute crusaders with the material necessary for the conquest 
of Jerusalem (§ 607). The passion for pilgrimages offered induce- 
ments to the Italian merchants for expeditions to the Orient, 
whither they transported the pilgrims and returned with the prod- 
ucts of the East. The Italian cities established trading stations 
in the East and carried on a direct traffic with the caravans which 
brought to the shores of the Mediterranean the products of Arabia, 
Persia, India, and the Spice Islands. The southern French towns 
and Barcelona entered also into commercial relations with the 
Mohammedans in northern Africa. 

645. Commerce stimulates Industry. This progress in the 
South could not but stir the lethargy of the rest of Europe. When 
commerce began to revive, it encouraged a revolution in manufac- 
ture. So long as the manor system prevailed and each man was 
occupied in producing only what he and the other people on the 
estate needed, there was nothing to send abroad and nothing to 
exchange for luxuries. But when merchants began to come with 
tempting articles, the members of a community were encouraged to 
produce a surplus of goods above what they themselves needed, 
and to sell or exchange this surplus for commodities coming from a 
distance. Merchants and artisans gradually directed their energies 
toward the production of what others wished as well as what was 
needed by the little group to which they belonged. 

646. The Luxuries of the East introduced into Europe. 
The romances of the twelfth century indicate that the West was 
astonished and delighted by the luxuries of the East — the rich 
fabrics, oriental carpets, precious stones, perfumes, drugs, silks, 
and porcelains from China, spices from India, and cotton from 
Egypt. Venice introduced the silk industry from the East and 
the manufacture of those glass articles which the traveler may 
still buy in the Venetian shops. The West learned how to make 
silk and velvet as well as light and gauzy cotton and linen fabrics. 
The Eastern dyes were introduced, and Paris was soon imitating 
the tapestries of the Saracens. In exchange for those luxuries 



438 History of Europe 

which they were unable to produce, the Flemish towns sent their 
woolen cloths to the East, and Italy its wines. 

647. Important Commercial Centers. The Northern mer- 
chants dealt mainly with Venice and brought their wares across 
the Brenner Pass and down the Rhine, or sent them by sea to 
be exchanged in Flanders (see map). By the thirteenth century 
important centers of trade had come into being, some of which are 
still among the great commercial towns of the world. Hamburg, 
Liibeck, and Bremen carried on active trade with the countries on 
the Baltic and with England. Augsburg and Nuremberg, in the 
south of Germany, became important on account of their situa- 
tion on the line of trade between Italy and the North. Bruges 
and Ghent sent their manufactures everywhere. English com- 
merce was relatively unimportant as yet compared with that of 
the great ports of the Mediterranean. 

648. Obstacles to Business. For various reasons it was very 
difficult indeed to carry on business on a large scale in the 
Middle Ages. In the first place, as has been said, there was little 
money, and money is essential to buying and selling, unless 
people confine themselves merely to exchanging one article for 
another. There were few gold and silver mines in western Europe, 
and consequently the kings and feudal lords could not supply 
enough coin. Moreover, the coins were crude, with such rough, 
irregular edges (Fig. 105) that many people yielded to the tempta- 
tion to pare off a little of the precious metal before they passed the 
money on. " Clipping," as this was called, was harshly punished, 
but that did not stop the practice, which continued for hundreds 
of years. Nowadays our coins are perfectly round and often have 
"milled" edges, so that no one would think of trying to appro- 
priate bits of them as they pass through his hands. 

It was universally believed that everything had a " just " price, 
which was merely enough to cover the cost of the materials used 
in its manufacture and to remunerate the maker for the work he 
had put into it. It was considered outrageous to ask more than 
the just price, no matter how anxious the purchaser might be to 
obtain the article. 



Medieval Towns — their Business and Buildings 439 





Every manufacturer was required to keep a shop in which he 
offered at retail all that he made. Those who lived near a town 
were permitted to sell their products in the market place within 
the walls on condition that they sold directly to the consumers. 
They might not dispose of their whole stock to one dealer, for fear 
that if he had all there was of a commodity he might raise the 
price above the just 
one. These ideas 
made all wholesale 
trade very difficult. 

649. Payment of 
Interest on Money 
forbidden. Akin 
to these prejudices 
against wholesale 
business was that 
against taking in- 
terest. Money was 
believed to be a 
dead and sterile 
thing, and no one 
had a right to de- 
mand any return 
for lending it. In- 
terest was consid- 
ered wicked, since 
it was exacted by 

those who took advantage of the embarrassments of others. 
'' Usury," as the taking of even the most moderate and reasonable 
rate of interest was then called, was strenuously forbidden by the 
laws of the Church. We find Church councils ordering that im- 
penitent usurers should be refused Christian burial and have their 
wills annulled. So money lending, which is necessary to all great 
commercial and industrial undertakings, was left to the Jews, 
who were not required to obey the rules established by the Chris- 
tian Church for its own members. 





Fig. 105. Medieval Coins 

The two upper coins reproduce the face and back of 
a silver penny of William the Conqueror's reign, and 
below is a silver groat of Edward III. The same ir- 
regularities in outline will be noted in the ancient 
coins represented in Fig. 36 



440 History of Europe 

650. The Jews as Money Lenders. This ill-starred people 
played a most important part in the economic development of 
Europe, but they were terribly maltreated by the Christians, who 
held them guilty of the supreme crime of putting Christ to d'eath. 
The active persecution of the Jews did not, however, become com- 
mon before the* thirteenth century, when they first began to be 
required to wear a peculiar cap, or badge, which made them easily 
recognized and exposed them to constant insult. Later they were 
sometimes shut up in a particular quarter of the city, called the 
Jewry. As they were excluded from the guilds, they not un- 
naturally turned to the business of money lending, which no 
Christian might practice. Undoubtedly this occupation had much 
to do in causing their unpopularity. The kings permitted them 
to make loans, often at a most exorbitant rate ; Philip Augustus 
allowed them to exact 46 per cent, but reserved the right to extort 
their gains from them when the royal treasury was empty. In 
England the usual rate was a penny a pound for each week. 

651. The Lombards as Bankers. In the thirteenth century 
the Italians — Lombards, as the English called them^ — began to 
go into a sort of banking business and greatly extended the em- 
ployment of bills of exchange. They lent for nothing, but exacted 
damages for all delay in repayment. This appeared reasonable 
and right even to those who condemned ordinary interest. 

652. Tolls and Other Annoyances. Another serious disadvan- 
tage which the medieval merchant had to face was the payment of 
an infinite number of tolls and duties which were demanded 
by the lords through whose domains his road passed. Not only 
were duties exacted on the highways, bridges, and at the fords, 
but those barons who were so fortunate as to have castles on a 
navigable river blocked the stream in such a way that the mer- 
chant could not bring his vessel through without a payment for 
the privilege. 

The charges were usually small, but the way in which they 
were collected and the repeated delays must have been a serious 
source of irritation and loss to the merchants. For example, a 

1 There is a Lombard Street in the center of old London where one still finds banks. 



Medieval Towns — their Business and Buildings 441 

certain monastery lying between Paris and the sea required that 
those hastening to town with fresh fish should stop and let the 
monks pick out what they thought worth three pence, with little 
regard to the condition in which they left the goods. When a 
boat laden with wine passed up the Seine to Paris, the agent of 
the lord of Poissy could have three casks broached, and, after 
trying them all, he could take a measure from the 'one he liked 
best. At the markets all sorts of dues had to be paid, such, for 
example, as fees for using the lord's scales or his measuring rod. 
Besides this, the great variety of coinage which existed in feudal 
Europe caused infinite perplexity and delay. 

653. Pirates. Commerce by sea had its own particular trials, 
by no means confined to the hazards of wind and wave, rock and 
shoal. Pirates were numerous in the North Sea. They were often 
organized and sometimes led by men of high rank, who appear 
to have regarded the business as no disgrace. The coasts were 
dangerous and lighthouses and beacons were few. Moreover, 
natural dangers were increased by false signals which wreckers 
used to lure ships to shore in order to plunder them. 

654. The Hanseatic League. With a view of reducing these 
manifold perils, the towns early began to form unions for mutual 
defense. The most famous of these was that of the German 
cities, called the Hanseatic League. Liibeck was always the leader, 
but among the seventy towns which at one time and another were 
included in the confederation we find Cologne, Brunswick, Dan- 
zig, and other centers of great importance. The union purchased 
and controlled settlements in London, — the so-called Steelyard 
near London Bridge, — at Wisby, Bergen, and the far-off Novgorod 
in Russia. They managed to monopolize nearly the whole trade 
on the Baltic and North Seas, either through treaties or the 
influence that they were able to bring to bear.^ 

The League made war on the pirates and did much to reduce 
the dangers of traffic. Instead of dispatching separate and de- 
fenseless merchantmen, their ships sailed out in fleets under 
the protection of a man-of-war. On one occasion the League 

1 The ships of the Hanseatic League were very small (see below, Fig. 152). 



442 History of Europe 

undertook a successful war against the king of Denmark, who had 
interfered with their interests. At another time it declared war 
on England and brought her to terms. For two hundred years 
before the discovery of America the League played a great part 
in the commercial affairs of western Europe ; but it had begun 
to decline even before the discovery of new routes to the East 
and West Indies revolutionized trade. 

655. Trade carried on by Towns not by Nations. It should 
be observed that, during the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth 
centuries, trade was not carried on between nations, but by the 
various towns, like Venice, Liibeck, Ghent, Bruges, Cologne. A 
merchant did not act or trade as an independent individual but 
as a member of a particular merchant guild, and he enjoyed the 
protection of his town and of the treaties it arranged. If a mer- 
chant from a certain town failed to pay a debt, a fellow-townsman 
might be seized if found in the town where the debt was due. At 
the period of which we have been speaking, an inhabitant of 
London was considered as much of a foreigner in Bristol as was 
the merchant from Cologne or Antwerp. Only gradually did the 
towns merge into the nations to which their people belonged. 

The increasing wealth of the merchants could not fail to raise 
them to a position of importance which earlier tradesmen had 
not enjoyed. They began to build fine houses and to buy the 
various comforts and luxuries which were finding their way into 
western Europe. They wanted their sons to be educated, and 
so it came about that other people besides clergymen began to 
learn how to read and write. As early as the fourteenth century 
many of the books appear to have been written with a view of 
meeting the tastes and needs of the business class. 

Representatives of the towns were summoned to the councils 
of the kings — into the English Parliament and the French Estates 
General, about the year 1300, for the monarch was obliged to 
ask their advice when he demanded their money to carry on 
his government and his wars (§ 557). The rise of the business 
class alongside of the older orders of the clergy and nobility is 
one of the most momentous changes of the thirteenth century. 




Fig. io6. Facade of the Cathedral at Rheims (Thirteenth 
Century) as it appeared before the World War 




Fig. 107. Rose Window of Rheims Cathedral, nearly Forty Feet 
IN Diameter, from the Inside 

This wonderful work of art was shattered by the German gunners during 

the World War 




Fig. io8. Interior of Exeter Cathedral (Early 
Fourteenth Century) 




Fig. 109. North Porch of Chartres Cathedral 
(Fourteenth Century) 



Medieval Towns — their Business and Buildings 443 

III. Gothic Architecture 

656. Medieval Buildings. Almost all the medieval buildings 
have disappeared in the ancient towns of Europe. The stone 
town walls, no longer adequate in our times, have been removed, 
and their place taken by broad and handsome avenues. The old 




Fig. no. Romanesque Church of Chatel-Montagne in the 
Department of Allier, France 

This is a pure Romanesque building with no alterations in a later style, such 

as are common. Heavy as the walls are, they are reenforced by buttresses 

along the side. All the arches are round, none of them pointed 

houses have been torn down in order to widen and straighten the 
streets and permit the construction of modern dwellings. Here 
and there one can still iind a walled town, but they are few in 
number and are merely curiosities (see Fig. 131). 

Of the buildings erected in towns during the Middle Ages only 
the churches remain, but these fill the beholder with wonder and 
admiration. It seems impossible that the cities of the twelfth and 
thirteenth centuries, which were neither very large nor very rich, 



444 



History of Europe 




could possibly find money enough to pay for them. It has been 
estimated that the bishop's church at Paris (Notre Dame) would 
cost at least five millions of dollars — at pre-war prices — to repro- 
duce, and there are a number of other cathedrals in France, Eng- 
land, Italy, Spain, and Germany which must have been almost as 
costly. No modern buildings equal them in beauty and grandeur, 

and they are the most strik- 
ing memorial of the religious 
spirit and the town pride of 
the Middle Ages. 

The construction of a cathe- 
dral sometimes extended over 
two or three centuries, and 
much of the money for it 
must have been gathered 
penny by penny. It should be 
remembered that everybody 
belonged in those days to the 
one great Catholic Church, so 
that the building of a new 
church was a matter of in- 
terest to the whole commun- 
ity — to men of every rank, 
from the bishop himself to 
the workman and the peasant. 
657. The Romanesque 
Style. Up to the twelfth cen- 
tury churches were built in what is called the Romanesque, or 
Roman-like, style because they resembled the solid old basilicas re- 
ferred to in earlier chapters (see §§383 and 479 above). These 
Romanesque churches had stone ceilings (see Figs. 90, 92, no), 
and it was necessary to make the walls very thick and solid to 
support them. There was a main aisle in the center, called the 
nave, and a narrower aisle on either side, separated from the nave 
by massive stone pillars, which helped to hold up the heavy ceiling. 
These pillars were connected by round arches of stone above 



Fig. III. Figures on Notre 
Dame, Paris 

Such grotesque figures as these are very 
common adornments of Gothic build- 
ings. They are often used for spouts to 
carry off the rain and are called gar- 
goyles; that is, " throats " (compare our 
words "gargle" and "gurgle"). The 
two here represented are perched on a 
parapet of one of the church's towers 



Medieval Towns — their Business and Buildings 445 



them. The tops of the small- 
ish windows were round, and 
the ceiling was constructed 
of round vaults, somewhat 
like a stone bridge, so the 
round arches form one of 
the striking features of the 
Romanesque style which dis- 
tinguishes it from the Gothic 
style, that followed it. The 
windows had to be small in 
order that the walls should 
not be weakened, so the 
Romanesque churches are 
rather dark inside. 

658. The Gothic Style. 
The architects of France 
were not satisfied, however, 
with this method of build- 
ing, and in the twelfth cen- 
tury they invented a new 
and wonderful way of con- 
structing churches and other 
buildings which enabled 
them to do away with the 
heavy walls and put high, 
wide, graceful windows in 
their place. This new style of 
architecture is known as the 
Gothic,^ and its underlying 

1 The inappropriate name " Gothic" 
was given to the beautiful churches of 
the North by Italian architects of the 
sixteenth century, who did not like 
them and preferred to build in the 
style of the ancient Romans. The 
Italians with their "classical" tastes 
they carelessly and ignorantly called 




Fig. 1 1 2. Cross Section of Amiens 
Cathedral 

It will be noticed that there is a row of 
rather low windows opening under the 
roof of the aisle. These constitute the so- 
called triforium {,E). Above them is the 
clerestory (F), the windows of which open 
between the flying buttresses. So it came 
about that the walls of a Gothic church 
were in fact mainly windows. The Egyp- 
tians were the first to invent the clerestory 
(see § 50 and Fig. i6) 

assumed that only German barbarians — whom 
Goths — could admire a Gothic cathedral. 



446 



History of Europe 



principles can readily be understood from a little study of the 
accompanying diagram (Fig. 112), which shows how a Gothic 
cathedral is supported, not by heavy walls but by buttresses. 

The architects discovered in the first place that the concave 
stone ceiling, which is known as the vaulting (A), could be sup- 
ported by ribs (B). 
These could in turn be 
brought together and 
supported on top of pil- 
lars which rested on the 
floor of the church. So 
far so good ! But the 
builders knew well 
enough that the pillars 
and ribs would be 
pushed over by the 
weight and outward 
"thrust" of the stone 
vaulting if they were 
not firmly supported 
from the outside. In- 
stead of erecting heavy 
walls to insure this sup- 
port they had recourse 
to buttresses (D), which 
they built quite outside 
the walls of the church 
and connected by means 
of " flying " buttresses 
(CC) with the points where the pillars and ribs had the most 
tendency to push outward. In this way a vaulted stone ceiling 
could be supported without the use of a massive wall. This 
ingenious use of buttresses instead of walls is the fundamental 
principle of Gothic architecture. It was discovered for the first 
time by the architects in the medieval towns and was apparently 
quite unknown to earlier builders. 




Fig. 113. Flying Buttresses of Notre 
Dame, Paris 

The size of the buttresses and the height of 

the clerestory windows of a great cathedral 

are well shown here 



Medieval Towns — their Business and Buildings 447 

The wall, no longer essential for supporting the ceiling, was 
used only to inclose the building, and windows could be built as 
high and wide as pleased the architect. By the use of pointed 
instead of round arches it was possible to give great variety to 
the windows and vaulting. So pointed arches came into general 
use, and the Gothic is often called the "pointed" style on this 
account, although the use of the ribs and buttresses, not the 
pointed arch, is the chief peculiarity of that form of architecture. 







Fig. 114. Grotesque Heads, Rheims Cathedral 

Here and there about a Gothic cathedral the stone carvers were accustomed 
to place grotesque and comical figures and faces. During the process of re- 
storing the cathedral at Rheims a number of these heads were brought together, 
and the photograph was taken upon which the illustration is based 

659. Church Windows. The light from the huge windows 
(those at Beauvais are fifty to fifty-five feet high) would have been 
too intense had it not been softened by the stained glass, set in 
exquisite stone tracery, with which they were filled (Fig. 107). 
The stained glass of the medieval cathedral, especially in France, 
where the glass workers brought their art to the greatest perfec- 
tion, was one of its chief glories. By far the greater part of this 
old glass has of course been destroyed, but it is still so highly 
prized that every bit of it is now carefully preserved, for it has 
. never since been equaled. A window set with odd bits of it pieced 



448 History of Europe 

together like crazy patchwork is more beautiful, in its rich and 
jewel-like coloring, than the finest modern work. 

660. Gothic Sculpture. As the skill of the architects increased 
they became bolder and bolder and erected churches that were 
marvels of lightness and delicacy of ornament, without sacrificing 
dignity or beauty of proportion. The facade of Rheims cathedral 
(Fig. 106) was — before its mutilation by German shells during 
the World War — one of the most famous examples of the best 
work of the thirteenth century, with its multitudes of sculptured 
figures and its gigantic rose window (Fig. 107), filled with ex- 
quisite stained glass of great brilliancy. The interior of Exeter 
cathedral (Fig. 108), although by no means so spacious as a 
number of the French churches, affords an excellent example of 
the beauty and impressiveness of a Gothic interior. The porch 
before the north entrance of Chartres cathedral (Fig. 109) is a 
magnificent example of fourteenth-century work. 

One of the charms of a Gothic building is the profusion of 
carving — statues of saints and rulers and scenes from the Bible, 
cut in stone. The same kind of stone was used for both construct- 
ing the building and making the statues, so they harmonize per- 
fectly. Here and there the Gothic stone carvers would introduce 
amusing faces or comical animals (Figs, iii, 114). 

In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries Gothic buildings 
other than churches were built. The most striking and important 
of these were the guild halls, erected by the rich corporations of 
merchants, and the town halls of important cities. But the 
Gothic style has always seemed specially appropriate for churches. 
Its lofty aisles and open floor spaces, its soaring arches leading 
the eye toward heaven, and its glowing windows suggesting the 
glories of paradise, fostered the faith of the medieval Christian. 

IV. The Italian Cities of the Renaissance 

661. The Renaissance. We have been speaking so far of the 
town life in northern Europe in the twelfth and thirteenth cen- 
turies. We must now see how the Italian towns in the following 



Medieval Towns — their Business and Buildings 449 

two centuries reached a degree of prosperity and refinement un- 
dreamed of north of the Alps. Within their walls learning and 
art made such extraordinary progress that a special name is 
often given to the period when they flourished — the Renais- 
sance,^ or new birth. The Italian towns, like those of ancient 
Greece, were each a little state with its own peculiar life and 
institutions. Some of them, like Rome, Milan, and Pisa, had 
been important in Roman times ; others, like Venice, Florence, 
and Genoa, did not become conspicuous until about the time 
of the Crusades. 

The map of Italy at the beginning of the fourteenth century was 
still divided into three zones, as it had been in the time of the 
Hohenstaufens.^ To the south lay the kingdom of Naples. Then 
came the states of the Church, extending diagonally across the 
peninsula. To the north and west lay the group of city-states to 
which we now turn our attention. 

662. Venice and its Relations with the East. Of these city- 
states none was more celebrated than Venice, which in the history 
of Europe ranks in importance with Paris and London. This 
singular town was built upon a group of sandy islets lying in the 
Adriatic Sea, about two miles from the mainland. It was pro- 
tected from the waves by a long, narrow sand bar similar to those 
which fringe the Atlantic coast from New Jersey southward. Such 
a situation would not ordinarily have been chosen as the site 
of a great city^; but it was a good place for fishermen, and its 
very desolation and inaccessibility recommended it to those settlers 
who fled from their homes on the mainland during the barbarian 
invasions. As time went on, the location proved to have its ad- 
vantages commercially, and even before the Crusades Venice had 
begun to engage in foreign trade. Its enterprises carried it east- 
ward, and it early acquired possessions across the Adriatic and in 
the Orient. The influence of this intercourse with the East is 

1 This word, although originally French, has come into such common use that it is 
quite permissible to pronounce it as if it were English, — re-tia' setis. 

2 See map above, p. 396. 

3 It is the sole surviving successor to the pile villages of the lake-dwellers who 
wandered down the valley of the Po (§ 10). 



450 



History of Europe 



plainly shown in the celebrated church of St. Mark, whose domes 
and decorations suggest Constantinople rather than Italy 
(Fig. ii6). 

663. Venice extends its Sway on the Mainland. It was not 
until early in the fifteenth century that Venice found it to her 
interest to extend her sway upon the Italian mainland. She 



y 



J 



mm 














Fig. 115. A Scene in Venice 

Boats, called gondolas, take the place of carriages in Venice ; one can reach 

any point in the city by some one of the numerous canals, which take the place 

of streets. There are also narrow lanes along the canals, crossing them here 

and there by bridges, so one can wander about the town on foot 

doubtless believed it dangerous to permit her rival, Milan, to 
get possession of the Alpine passes through which her goods found 
their way north. It may be, too, that she preferred to draw her 
food supplies from the neighborhood instead of transporting them 
across the Adriatic from her eastern possessions. Moreover, all 
the Italian cities except Venice already controlled a larger or 
smaller area of country about them. 



Medieval Towns — their Business and Buildings 451 

About the year 1400 Venice reached the height of its pros- 
perity. It had a population of two hundred thousand, which was 
very large for those days. It had three hundred seagoing vessels 
which went to and fro in the Mediterranean, carrying wares from 
the East to the West. It had a war fleet of forty-five galleys, 




Fig. 116. St. Mark's and the Doge's Palace in Venice 

One sees the fagade of St. Mark's to the left and that of the doge's palace 
beyond. The church, modeled after one in Constantinople, was planned before 
the First Crusade and is adorned with numerous colored marble columns and 
slabs brought from the East. The interior is covered with mosaics, some of 
which go back to the twelfth and the thirteenth century. The fa9ade is also 
adorned with brilliant mosaics. St. Mark's " is unique among the buildings of 
the world in respect to its unparalleled richness of material and decoration." 
The doge's palace contained the government offices and the magnificent halls 
in which the senate and Council of Ten met. The palace was begun about 
1300, and the fa9ade we see in the picture was commenced about a hundred 
years later. It shows the influence of the Gothic style, which penetrated 

into northern Italy 

manned by eleven thousand marines ready to fight the battles of 
the republic. But when Constantinople fell into the hands of the 
Turks (1453), and when, later, the route to India by sea was 
discovered (see below, §§673-674), Venice could not maintain 



452 



History of Europe 



control of the trade with the East, and while it remained an impor- 
tant city, it no longer enjoyed its former influence and power. 

664. Government of Venice. Although Venice was called a 
republic, it was really governed by a very small group of persons. 
In 131 1, after a rebellion, the famous Council of Ten was created 
as a sort of committee of public safety. The whole government, 




Fig. 117. Senate Chamber in the Doge's Palace 

This is an example of the magnificent decoration of the rooms used by the 

Venetian government. It was adorned by celebrated painters in the sixteenth 

century, when Venice became famous for its artists 

domestic and foreign, was placed in its hands, in conjunction with 
the senate and the doge (that is, duke), the nominal head of the 
republic. The government, thus concentrated in the hands of a 
very few, was carried on with great secrecy, so that public dis- 
cussion, such as prevailed in Florence and led to innumerable 
revolutions there, was unheard of in Venice. The Venetian mer- 
chant was such a busy person that he was quite willing that the 
State should exercise its functions without his interference. 

Venice often came to blows with other rival cities, especially 
Genoa, but its citizens lived quietly at home under the government 



Medieval Towns — their Business and Buildings 453 



of its senate, the 
Council of Ten, and 
the doge. The other 
Italian towns were 
not only fighting one 
another much of the 
time but their govern- 
ment was often in the 
possession of despots, 
somewhat like the old 
Greek tyrants, who 
got control of, towns 
and managed them in 
their own interest. 

665. Position of 
the Italian Despots. 
There are numerous 
stories of the incred- 
ible ferocity exhibited 
by the Italian despots. 
It must be remem- 
bered that they were 
very rarely legitimate 
rulers, but usurpers, 
who could hope to re- 
tain their power only 
so long as they could 
keep their subjects 
under control and 
could defend them- 
selves against equally 
illegitimate usurpers 

in the neighboring cities. This situation developed a high degree of 
sagacity, and many of the despots found it to their interest to govern 
well and even to give dignity to their rule by patronizing artists and 
men of letters. But the despot usually made many bitter enemies 




Fig. 118. Tomb of an Italian Despot 

The family of the Visconti maintained them- 
selves many years as despots of Milan. Gian 
Galeazzo Visconti began in 1396 a magnificent 
Carthusian monastery not far from Milan, one 
of the most beautiful structures in Italy. Here, 
long after his death, a monument was erected to 
him as founder of the monastery. The monu- 
ment was begun about 1500 but not completed 
for several decades 



454 History of Europe 

and was almost necessarily suspicious of treason on the part of 
those about him. He was ever conscious that at any moment he 
might fall a victim to the dagger or the poison cup. 

666. The Condottieri. The Italian towns carried on their 
wars among themselves largely by means of hired troops. When 
a military expedition was proposed, a bargain was made with one 
of the professional leaders {condottieri) , who provided the neces- 
sary force. As the soldiers had no more interest in the conflict 
than did those whom they opposed, who were likewise hired for 
the occasion, the fight was not usually very bloody ; for the object 
of each side was to capture the other without unnecessarily rough 
treatment. 

667. Florence. The history of Florence, perhaps the most 
important of the Italian cities, differs in many ways from that 
of Venice and of the despotisms of which Milan was an example. 
Florence was a republic, and all classes claimed the right to in- 
terest themselves in the government. This led to constant changes 
in the constitution and frequent struggles between the different 
political parties. When one party got the upper hand it generally 
expelled its chief opponents from the city. Exile was a terrible 
punishment to a Florentine, for Florence was not merely his 
native city — it was his country, and loved and honored as such. 

668. The Medici ; Lorenzo the Magnificent. By the middle 
of the fifteenth century Florence had come under the control of 
the great family of the Medici, whose members played the 
role of very enlightened political bosses. By quietly watching the 
elections and secretly controlling the selection of city officials, 
they governed without letting it be suspected that the people had 
lost their power. The most distinguished member of the house of 
Medici was Lorenzo the Magnificent (d. 1492) ; under his rule 
Florence reached the height of its glory in art and literature. 

As one wanders about Florence to-day he is impressed with 
the contradictions of the Renaissance period. The streets are lined 
with the palaces of the noble families to whose rivalries much of 
the continual disturbance was due. The lower stories of these 
buildings are constructed of great stones, like fortresses, and 



Medieval Towns — their Business and Buildings 455 



their windows are barred like those of a prison (Fig. 119) ; yet 
within they were often furnished with the greatest taste and luxury. 
For in spite of the disorder, against which the rich protected 
themselves by mak- 
ing their houses half 
strongholds, the beau- 
tiful churches, noble 
public buildings, and 
works of art which 
now fill the museums 
indicate that mankind 
has never, perhaps, 
reached a higher de- 
gree of perfection in 
the arts of peace than 
amidst the turmoil of 
this restless town (see 
below,Figs. 126, 127). 
669. Rome, the 
Capital of the Pa- 
pacy. During the same 
period in which Venice 
and Florence became 
leaders in wealth and 
refinement Rome, the 
capital of the popes, 
likewise underwent a 
great change. After 
the popes returned 
from their seventy 
years' residence in 
France and Avignon 
(§635) they found the town in a dilapidated state. For years 
they were able to do little to restore it, as there was a long period 
during which the papacy was weakened by the existence of a rival 
line of popes who continued to live at Avignon. When the "great 




Fig. 119. 



The Palace of 
IN Florence 



THE Medici 



This palace was erected about 1435 by Cosimo 
dei Medici, and in it Lorenzo the Magnificent con- 
ducted the government of Florence and enter- 
tained the men of letters and artists with whom he 
liked best to associate. It shows how fortresslike 
the lower portions of a Florentine palace were, in 
order to protect the owner from attack 



456 



History of Europe 



schism" was over, and all 
the European nations once 
more acknowledged the Pope 
at Rome (1417), it became 
possible to improve the city 
and revive some of its ancient 
glory. Architects, painters, 
and men of letters were 
called in and handsomely 
paid by the popes to erect 
and adorn magnificent build- 
ings and to collect a great 
library in the Vatican palace. 
670. St. Peter's and the 
Vatican. The ancient basilica 
of St. Peter's (Fig. 77) no 
longer satisfied the aspira- 
tions of the popes. It was 
gradually torn down, and 
after many changes of plan 
the present celebrated church 
with its vast dome and im- 
posing approach (Fig. 121) 
took its place. The old 
palace of the Lateran, where 
the government of the popes 
had been carried on for a 
thousand years, had been 
deserted after the return 
from Avignon, and the new 
palace of the Vatican was 
gradually constructed to the 
right of St. Peter's. It has 
thousands of rooms, great and small, some of them adorned by 
the most distinguished of the Italian painters, and others filled 
with ancient statuary. 




P'iG. 120. Cathedral and Bell 
Tower at Florenxe 

The church was begun in 1296 and com- 
pleted in 1436. The great dome built by 
the architect Brunelleschi has made his 
name famous. It is three hundred feet 
high. The fa9ade is modern but after 
an old design. The bell tower, or cam- 
panile, was begun by the celebrated 
painter Giotto about 1335 and com- 
pleted about fifty years later. It is richly 
adorned with sculpture and colored 
marbles and is considered the finest 
structure of the kind in the world 



Medieval Towns — their Business and Buildings 457 




Fig. 121. St. Peter's and the Vatican Palace 

St. Peter's is the largest church in the world. It is about seven hundred feet 
long, including the portico, and four hundred and thirty-five feet high, from the 
pavement to the cross on the dome. The reconstruction was begun as early 
as 1450, but it proceeded very slowly. Several great architects, Bramante, 
Raphael, Michael Angelo, and others, were intrusted with the work. After 
many changes of plan the new church was finally in condition to consecrate 
in 1626. It is estimated that it cost over $50,000,000. The construction of the 
vast palace of the popes, which one sees to the right of the church, was car- 
ried on during the same period. It is said to have no less than eleven thou- 
sand rooms. Some of them are used for museums and others are celebrated 
for the frescoes which adorn their walls, by Raphael, Michael Angelo, and 

other of Italy's greatest artists 

As one visits Venice, Florence, and Rome to-day he may still 
see, almost perfectly preserved, many of the finest of the build- 
ings, paintings, and monuments which belong to the period we 
have been discussing. 



V. Early Geographical Discoveries 



671. Medieval Commerce on a Small Scale. The business and 
commerce of the medieval towns was on what would seem to us a 
rather small scale. There were no great factories, such as have 
grown up in recent times with the use of steam and machinery, 



458 History of Europe 

and the ships which sailed the Mediterranean and the North 
Sea were small and held only a very light cargo compared with 
modern merchant vessels. The gradual growth of a world com- 
merce began with the sea voyages of the fifteenth century, which 
led to the exploration by Europeans of the whole globe, most of 
which was entirely unknown to the Venetian merchants and those 
who carried on the trade of the Hanseatic League. The Greeks 
and Romans knew little about the world beyond southern Europe, 
northern Africa, and western Asia, and much that they knew was 
forgotten during the Middle Ages. The Crusades took many Eu- 
ropeans as far East as Egypt and Syria. 

672. Marco Polo. About 1260 two Venetian merchants, the 
Polo brothers, visited China and were kindly received at Pekin 
by the emperor of the Mongols. On a second journey they were 
accompanied by Marco Polo, the son of one of them. When they 
got back to Venice in 1295, after a journey of twenty years, 
Marco gave an account of his experiences which filled his readers 
with wonder. Nothing stimulated the interest of the West more 
than his fabulous description of the abundance of gold in Zipangu 
(Japan) and of the spice markets of the Moluccas and Ceylon. 

673. The Discoveries of the Portuguese. About the year 
13 1 8 Venice and Genoa opened up direct communication by sea 
with the towns of the Netherlands. Their fleets, which touched 
at the port of Lisbon, aroused the commercial enterprise of the 
Portuguese, who soon began to undertake extended maritime ex- 
peditions. By the middle of the fourteenth century they had dis- 
covered the Canary Islands, Madeira, and the Azores. Before 
this time no one had ventured along the coast of Africa beyond 
the arid region of Sahara. The country was forbidding, there 
were no ports, and mariners were, moreover, discouraged by the 
general belief that the torrid region was uninhabitable. In 1445, 
however, some adventurous sailors came within sight of a head- 
land beyond the desert, and, struck by its luxuriant growth of 
tropical trees, they called it Cape Verde (the green cape). Its 
discovery put an end once for all to the idea that there were only 
parched deserts to the south. 




A Map of the Globe in the Time of Columbus 



In 1492 a German mariner, Behaim, made a globe which is still preserved in 
Nuremberg. He did not know of the existence of the American continents or of 
the vast Pacific Ocean. It will be noticed that he places Japan (Cipango) where 
Mexico lies. In the reproduction many names are omitted and the outlines of 
North and South America are sketched in so as to make clear the misconceptions 

of Columbus's time 



46o Hisitory of Europe 

For a generation the Portuguese ventured farther and farther 
along the coast, in the hope of finding it coming to an end, so that 
they might make their way by sea to India. At last, in i486, 
Diaz rounded the Cape of Good Hope. Twelve years later (1498) 
Vasco da Gama, spurred on by Columbus's great discovery, after 
sailing around the Cape of Good Hope and northward beyond 
Zanzibar, aided by an Arab pilot, steered straight across the 
Indian Ocean and reached Calicut, in Hindustan, by sea. 

674. The Spice Trade. Vasco da Gama and his fellow ad- 
venturers were looked upon with natural suspicion by the Moham- 
medan spice merchants, who knew very well that their object was 
to establish direct trade between the Spice Islands (Moluccas) 
and western Europe. Hitherto the Mohammedans had had the 
monopoly of the spice trade between the Moluccas and the eastern 
ports of the Mediterranean, where the products were handed over 
to Italian merchants. The Mohammedans were unable, however, 
to prevent the Portuguese from concluding treaties . with the 
Indian princes and establishing trading stations at Goa and else- 
where. In 1 51 2 a successor of Vasco da Gama reached Java and 
the Moluccas, where the Portuguese speedily built a fortress. By 
1 51 5 Portugal had become the greatest among sea powers; and 
spices reached Lisbon regularly without the intervention of the 
Mohammedan merchants or the Italian towns, which, especially 
Venice, were mortally afflicted by the change (see above, § 663), 

There is no doubt that the desire to obtain spices was at this 
time the main reason for the exploration of the globe. This 
motive led European navigators to try in succession every pos- 
sible way to reach the East — by going around Africa, by sailing 
west in the hope of reaching the Indies (before they knew of the 
existence of America), then, after America was discovered, by 
sailing around it to the north or south, and even sailing around 
Europe to the north. 

It is hard for us to understand this enthusiasm for spices, for 
which we care much less nowadays. One former use of spices was 
to preserve food, which could not then as now be carried rapidly, 
while still fresh, from place to place ; nor did our conveniences 



Medieval Towns — their Business and Buildings 461 



then exist for keeping it by the use of ice. Moreover, spice 
served to make even spoiled food more palatable than it would 
otherwise have been. 

675. Idea of reaching the Spice Islands by sailing Westward. 
It inevitably occurred to thoughtful men that the East Indies 
could be reached by sailing westward. All intelligent people knew, 



.. ..S.ilrHU'iPi'ijiE _ 




The Malay Archipelago 

The outline of the United States has been drawn in to make clear the vast 
extent of the region explored by the Portuguese at the opening of the six- 
teenth century. It is not far from two thousand miles from Ceylon to Malacca 
Strait, and as far from there on to the Spice Islands as from Denver to 

Richmond, Virginia 

all through the Middle Ages, that the earth was a globe. The 
chief authority upon the form and size of the earth con- 
tinued to be the ancient astronomer Ptolemy, who had lived about 
A.D. 150. He had reckoned the earth to be about one sixth smaller 
than it is ; and as Marco Polo had given an exaggerated idea of 
the distance which he and his companions had traveled eastward, 
and as no one suspected the existence of the American continents, 
it was supposed that it could not be a very long journey from 
Europe across the Atlantic to Japan. ^ 

1 See accompanying reproduction of Behaim's globe. 



462 History of Europe 

676. Columbus discovers America (1492). In 1492, as we 
all know, a Genoese navigator, Columbus (b, 1451), who had had 
much experience on the sea, got together three little ships and 
undertook the journey westward to Zipangu, — the land of gold, — 
which he hoped to reach in five weeks. After thirty-two days 
from the time he left the Canary Islands he came upon land, the 
island of San Salvador, and believed himself to be in the East 
Indies. Going on from there he discovered the island of Cuba, 
which he believed to be the mainland of Asia, and then Haiti, 
which he mistook for the longed-for Zipangu (§ 672). Although 
he made three later expeditions and sailed down the coast of 
South America as far as the Orinoco, he died without realizing 
that he had not been exploring the coast of Asia. 

677. Magellan's Expedition around the World. After the 
bold enterprises of Vasco da Gama and Columbus, an expedition 
headed by the Portuguese Magellan succeeded in circumnavigat- 
ing the globe. There was now no reason why the new lands should 
not become more and more familiar to the European nations. 
The coast of North America was explored principally by English 
navigators, who for over a century pressed northward, still in the 
vain hope of finding a northwest passage to the Spice Islands. 

678. The Spanish Conquests in America. Cortes began the 
Spanish conquests in the western world by undertaking the sub- 
jugation of the Aztec empire in Mexico in 1519. A few years 
later Pizarro established the Spanish power in Peru. Spain now 
superseded Portugal as a maritime power, and her importance in 
the sixteenth century is to be attributed largely to the wealth 
which came to her from her possessions in the New World. 

By the end of the century the Spanish main — that is, the 
northern coast of South America — was much frequented by ad- 
venturous seamen, who combined in about equal parts the occu- 
pations of merchant, slaver, and pirate. Many of these hailed 
from English ports, and it is to them that England owes the 
beginning of her commercial greatness. 

It is hardly necessary to say that Europeans exhibited an utter 
disregard for the rights of the people with whom they came in 



Medieval Towns — their Business and Buildings 463 

contact and often treated them with contemptuous cruelty. The 
exploration of the globe and the conquest by European nations of 
peoples beyond the sea led finally to the vast colonization of mod- 
ern times, which has caused many wars but has served to spread 
European ideas throughout the world. This creation of a greater 
Europe will be one of the most important subjects to be discussed 
in the next volume of this work. 

QUESTIONS 

I. Why are towns necessary to progress ? How did the towns of the 
eleventh and twelfth centuries originate ? What was the nature of a 
town charter ? Describe the guild organization. 

II. Describe the revival and extending of commerce in the Middle 
Ages. What were some of the obstacles to business ? Describe the 
Hanseatic League. 

III. What are the chief characteristics of Romanesque churches ? 
What were the principles of construction which made it possible to 
build a Gothic church ? Tell something about the decoration of a 
Gothic church. 

IV. Describe the map of Italy in the fourteenth century. What are 
the peculiarities of Venice ? Who were the Italian despots ? Con- 
trast Florence with Venice. Tell something of the buildings constructed 
in Rome. 

V. What geographical discoveries were made before 1500? How 
far is it by sea from Lisbon to Calicut around the Cape of Good 
Hope ? What was the importance of the spice trade ? What led 
Columbus to try to reach the Indies by sailing westward? 



CHAPTER XXX 

BOOKS AND SCIENCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 

I. How THE Modern Languages Originated 

679. General Use of Latin in the Middle Ages. We should 
leave the Middle Ages with a very imperfect notion of them if we 
did not now stop to consider what people were thinking about 
during that period, what they had to read, and what they believed 
about the world in which they lived. 

To begin with, the Middle Ages differed from our own time 
in the very general use then made of Latin, both in writing and 
speaking. The language of the Roman Empire continued to be 
used in the thirteenth century, and long after ; all books that 
made any claim to learning were written in Latin ;^ the professors 
in the universities lectured in Latin, friends wrote to one another 
in Latin, and state papers, treaties, and legal documents were 
drawn up in the same language. The ability of every educated 
person to make use of Latin, as well as of his native tongue, was 
a great advantage at a time when there were many obstacles to 
intercourse among the various nations. It helps to explain, for 
example, the remarkable way in which the Pope kept in touch 
with all the clergymen of Western Christendom, and the ease with 
which students, friars, and merchants could wander from one 
country to another. There is no more interesting or important 
revolution than that by which the languages of the people in the 
various European countries gradually pushed aside the ancient 
tongue and took its place, so that even scholars scarcely ever 
think now of writing books in Latin. 

In order to understand how it came about that two languages, 
the Latin and the native speech, were both commonly used in all 

1 In Germany the books published annually in the German language did not exceed 
those in Latin until after 1690. 

464 



Books and Science in the Middle Ages 465 

the countries of western Europe all through the Middle Ages, we 
must glance at the origin of the modern languages. These all fall 
into two quite distinct groups, the Germanic and the Romance. 

680. The Germanic Languages. Those German peoples who 
had continued to live outside of the Roman Empire naturally 
adhered to the language they had always used ; namely, the 
particular Germanic dialect which their forefathers had spoken 
for untold generations. Yxom the various languages used by the 
German barbarians, modern German, English, Dutch, Swedish, 
Norwegian, Danish, and Icelandic are largely derived. 

681. The Romance Languages. The second group of 
languages developed within the territory which had formed a part 
of the Roman Empire, and includes modern French, Italian, 
Spanish, and Portuguese. It has now been clearly proved that 
these Romance languages were one and all derived from the 
spoken Latin, employed by the soldiers, merchants, and people at 
large. This differed considerably from the elaborate and elegant 
ivritten Latin which was used,- for example, by Cicero and Caesar. 
It was undoubtedly much simpler in its grammar and varied 
a good deal in different regions ; a Gaul, for instance, could not 
pronounce the words like a Roman. Moreover, in conversation 
people did not always use the same words as those employed in 
books. For example, a horse was commonly spoken of as caballus, 
whereas a writer would use the word cquus ; it is from caballus 
that the word for "horse" in Spanish, Italian, and French is 
derived {caballo, cavallo, cheval). 

As time went on, the spoken language diverged farther and 
farther from the written. Latin is a troublesome speech on 
account of its complicated inflections and grammatical rules, 
which can be mastered only after a great deal of study. The 
people of the more remote Roman provinces and the incoming 
barbarians naturally paid very little attention to the niceties of 
syntax and found easy ways of saying what they wished.^ 

1 Even the monks and others who wrote Latin in the Middle Ages often did not 
know enough to follow strictly the rules of the language. Moreover, they introduced 
many new words to meet the new conditions and the needs of the time, such as tm- 
prisonarcy "to imprison"; utlagare, "to outlaw"; baptizare, "to baptize"; foresia, 
" forest " ; feiidnm, " fief " ; etc. 



466 History of Europe 

Yet several centuries elapsed after the German invasions be- 
fore there was anything written in this conversational language. 
So long as the uneducated could understand the correct Latin of 
the books when they heard it read or spoken, there was no neces- 
sity of writing anything in their familiar daily speech. But by 
the time Charlemagne came to the throne the gulf between the 
spoken and the written language had become so great that he 
advised that sermons should be given thereafter in the language 
of the people, who, apparently, could no longer follow the Latin. 

Although little was written in any German language before 
Charlemagne's time, there is no doubt that the Germans pos- 
sessed an unwritten literature, which was passed down by word 
of mouth for several centuries before any of it was written out. 

682. Ancient English, or Anglo-Saxon. The oldest form 
of English is commonly called Anglo-Saxon and is so different 
from the language which we use that, in order to be read, it must 
be learned like a foreign language. We hear of an English poet, 
as early as Bede's time, a century before Charlemagne. A manu- 
script of an Anglo-Saxon epic, called Beowulf, has been preserved 
which belongs perhaps to the close of the eighth century. King 
Alfred displayed great interest in the English language. He ac- 
tually translated several old Latin works and encouraged the writ- 
ing of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. This old form of our language 
prevailed until after the Norman Conquest ; the Anglo-Saxon 
Chronicle, which does not close until 1154, is written in pure 
Anglo-Saxon. Here is an example : 

''Here on thissum geare Willelm cyng geaf Rodberde eorle 
thone eorldom on Northymbraland. Da komon tha landes menu 
togeanes him & hine ofslogen, & ix hund manna mid him."^ In 
modern English this reads : "In this year King William gave 
the Earl Robert the earldom of Northumberland. Then came 
the men of the country against him and slew him, and nine 
hundred men with him." 

1 In writing Anglo-Saxon two old letters are used for ik, one ()>) for the sound in 
" thin " and the other ('S) for that in " father." The use of these old letters serves to 
make the language look more different from that of to-day than it is. 



Books and Science in the Middle Ages 467 

By the middle of the thirteenth century, two hundred years 
after the Norman Conquest, EngHsh begins to look somewhat 
familiar, as may be seen in the examples which follow : 

And Aaron held up his hond 

To the water and the more lond ; 

Tho cam thor up schwilc froschkes here 

The dede al folc Egipte dere ; 

Summe woren wilde, and summe tame, 

And tho hem deden the moste schame ; 

In huse, in drinc, in metes, in bed, 

It cropen and maden hem for-dred. , . . 

And Aaron held up his hand 
To the water and the greater land ; 
Then came there up such host of frogs 
That did all Egypt's folk harm ; 
Some were wild, and some were tame, 
And those caused them the most shame ; 
. In house, in drink, in meats, in bed. 
They crept and made them in great dread. . . . 



Chaucer (about 1340-1400) was the first great English writer 
whose works are now read with pleasure, although one is some- 
times puzzled by his spelling and by certain words which are no 
longer used. This is the way one of his tales opens : 

A poure wydow somdel stope in age, 
Was whilom dwellyng in a narwe cotage, 
Bisyde a grove, stondyng in a dale. 
This wydwe of wichh I telle yow my tale, 
Syn thilke day that sche was last a wif, 
In pacience ladde a ful symple lyf. 



683. French and Provengal. In the Middle Ages, however, 
French, not English, was the most important of the national 
languages of western Europe. In France a vast literature was 
produced in the language of the people during the twelfth and 



468 History of Europe 

thirteenth centuries which profoundly affected the books written 
in Italy, Spain, Germany, and England. 

Two quite different languages had gradually developed in 
France from the spoken Latin of the Roman Empire. To the 
north, French was spoken ; to the south, Provengal.^ 

Very little in the ancient French language written before the 
year iioo has been preserved. The West Franks undoubtedly 
began much earlier to sing of their heroes, of the great deeds of 
Clovis and Charles the Hammer. These famous rulers were, how- 
ever, completely overshadowed later by Charlemagne, who be- 
came the unrivaled hero of medieval poetry and romance (§ 505). 
It was believed that he had reigned for a hundred and twenty-five 
years, and the most marvelous exploits were attributed to him 
and his knights. He was supposed, for instance, to have led a 
crusade to Jerusalem. Such themes as these — more legend than 
history — were woven into long epics, which were the first written 
literature of the Frankish people. These poems, combined with 
the stories of adventure, developed a spirit of patriotic enthusiasm 
among the French which made them regard " fair France " as the 
especial care of Providence. 

684. Romances of King Arthur and the Knights of the 
Round Table. The famous Sojtg oj Roland, the chief character 
of which was one of Charlemagne's captains, was written before 
the First Crusade. In the latter part of the twelfth century the 
romances of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table 
begin to appear. These enjoyed great popularity in all western 
Europe for centuries, and they are by no means forgotten yet. 
Arthur, of whose historical existence no one can be quite sure, was 
supposed to have been king of Britain shortly after the Saxons 
gained a foothold in the island.^ 

1 Of course there was no sharp line of demarcation between the people who used the 
one language or the other, nor was Provengal confined to southern France. The lan- 
guage of Catalonia, beyond the Pyrenees, was essentially the same as that of Provence. 
French was called laugiie d''oil, and the southern language langue d''oc, each after the 
word used for " yes." 

2 Malory's Mort cf Arthur, a collection of the stories of the Round Table made in 
the fifteenth century for English readers, is the best place to turn for these famous 
stories. 



Books and Science in the Middle Ages 469 

Besides the long and elaborate epics, like Roland, and the 
romances in verse and prose, there were numberless short stories 
in verse (the fabliaux), which usually dealt with the incidents 
of everyday life, especially with the comical ones. 

II. The Troubadours and Chivalry 

685. The Troubadours. Turning now to southern France, the 
beautiful songs of the troubadours, which were the glory of the 
Provengal tongue, reveal a gay and polished society at the courts 
of the numerous feudal princes. The rulers not merely protected 
and encouraged the poets — they aspired to be poets themselves 
and to enter the ranks of the troubadours, as the composers of 
these elegant verses were called. These songs were always sung 
to an accompaniment on some instrument, usually the lute. The 
troubadours traveled from court to court, not only in .France but 
north into Germany and south into Italy, carrying with them 
the southern French poetry and customs. We have few examples 
of Provengal before the year iioo, but from that time on, for two 
centuries, countless songs were written, and many of the trouba- 
dours enjoyed an international reputation. The terrible Albigen- 
sian crusade (§ 626) brought misery and death into the sprightly 
circles which had gathered about the count of Toulouse and other 
rulers who had treated the heretics too leniently. 

686. Chivalry. For the student of history the chief interest of 
the long poems of northern France and the songs of the South 
lies in the insight that they give into the life and aspirations of 
this feudal period. These are usually summed up in the term 
chivalry, or knighthood, of which a word may properly be said 
here, since we should know little of it were it not for the literature 
of which we have been speaking. The knights play the chief role 
in all the medieval romances ; and, since many of the troubadours 
belonged to the knightly class, they naturally have much to say 
of it in their songs. 

Chivalry was not a formal institution established at any 
particular moment. Like feudalism, with which it was closely 



470 History of Europe 

connected, it had no founder, but appeared spontaneously through- 
out western Europe to meet the needs and desires of the period. 
When the youth of good family had been carefully trained to 
ride his horse, use his sword, and manage his hawk in the hunt, 
he was made a knight by a ceremony in which the Church took 
part, although the knighthood was actually conferred by an 
older knight. 

687. Ideals of Knighthood. The knight was a Christian sol- 
dier, and he and his fellows were supposed to form, in a way, a 
separate order, with high ideals of the conduct befitting their 
class. Knighthood was not, however, membership in an associa- 
tion with officers and a definite constitution. It was an ideal, 
half-imaginary society — a society to which even those who en- 
joyed the title of king or duke were proud to belong. One was 
not born a knight as he might be born a duke or count, and could 
become one only through the ceremony mentioned above. Al- 
though most knights belonged to the nobility, one might be a 
noble and still not belong to the knightly order, and, on the other 
hand, one who was baseborn might be raised to knighthood on 
account of some valorous deed. 

The knight must, in the first place, be a Christian and must 
obey and defend the Church on all occasions. He must respect 
all forms of -weakness and defend the helpless wherever he might 
find them. He must fight the infidel Mohammedans ceaselessly, 
pitilessly, and never give way before the enemy. He must per- 
form all his feudal duties, be faithful in all things to his lord, 
never lie or violate his plighted word. He must be generous and 
give freely and ungrudgingly to the needy. He must be faithful 
to his lady and be ready to defend her and her honor at all costs. 
Everywhere he must be the champion of the right against injustice 
and oppression. In short, chivalry was the Christianized pro- 
fession of arms. 

688. The German Minnesingers. The Germans also made 
their contribution to the literature of chivalry. The German 
poets of the thirteenth century are called minnesingers. Like the 
troubadours, whom they greatly admired, they usually sang of 



Books and Science in the Middle Ages 471 

love, hence their name (German, Minne). The most famous of 
the Minnesingers was Walther von der Vogelweide (d. about 1228), 
whose songs are full of charm and of enthusiasm for his German 
fatherland. 

III. Medieval Science 

689. Medieval Ignorance of the Past. So long as all books 
had to be copied by hand, there were, of course, but few of them 
compared with those of modern times. The literature of which 
we have been speaking was not in general read, but was only 
listened to, as it was sung or recited by those who made it their 
profession. Wherever the wandering troubadour or minnesinger 
appeared he was sure of a delighted audience for his songs and 
stories, both serious and light. People unfamiliar with Latin 
could, however, learn little of the past, for there were no transla- 
tions of the great classics of Greece and Rome, of Homer, Plato, 
Cicero, or Livy. All that they could know of ancient history was 
derived from the fantastic romances referred to above, which had 
for their theme the quite preposterous deeds ascribed to Alexander 
the Great, ^neas, and Caesar. As for their own history, the 
epics relating to the earlier course of events in France and the 
rest of Europe were hopelessly confused. For example, the writ- 
ers attributed to Charlemagne a great part of the acts of the 
Frankish kings from Clovis to Pippin. 

690. Medieval Popular Science. Of what we should call 
scientific books there were practically none. It is true that there 
was a kind of encyclopedia in verse which gave a great deal of 
misinformation about things in general. Everyone continued 
to believe, as the Greeks and Romans had done, in strange animals 
like the unicorn, the dragon, and the phoenix, and in still stranger 
habits of real animals. A single example will suffice to show 
what passed for zoology in the thirteenth century. 

" There is a little beast made like a lizard and such is its 
nature that it will extinguish fire should it fall into it. The beast 
is so cold and of such a quality that fire is not able to burn it, 
nor will trouble happen in the place where it shall be." This 



472 History of Europe 

beast signifies the holy man who lives by faith, who "will never 
have hurt from fire nor will hell burn him. . . . This beast 
we name also by another name, salamander. It is accustomed 
to mount into apple-trees, poisons the apples, and in a well where 
it falls it poisons the water." 

It will be noticed that the habits of the animals were sup- 
posed to have some moral or religious meaning and carry with 
them a lesson for mankind. It may be added that this and similar 
stories were centuries old and are found in the encyclopedias of 
the Romans. The most improbable things were repeated from 
generation to generation without its occurring to anyone to 
inquire if there was any truth in them. 

From the Roman and early Christian writers the Middle Ages 
got the idea of strange races of men and manlike creatures of 
various kinds. We find the following in an encyclopedia of the 
thirteenth century : " Satyrs be somewhat like men, and have 
crooked noses, and horns in the forehead, and are like to goats in 
their feet. . . . Those be wonderful creatures that have heads as 
hounds, and seem beasts rather than men ; and some be called 
Cyclops, and have that name because each of them hath but one 
eye, and that in the middle of the forehead ; and some be all head- 
less and noseless and their eyes be in the shoulders ; and some 
have plain faces without nostrils, and the lower lips of them stretch 
so that they veil therewith their faces when they be in the heat 
of the sun. Also in Scythia be some with so great and large 
ears, that they spread their ears and cover all their bodies with 
them, and these be called Panchios. . . ." 

Two old subjects of study were revived and received great 
attention in Europe from the thirteenth century onwards until 
recent times. These were astrology and alchemy. 

691. Astrology. Astrology (§ 87) was based on the belief that 
the planets influence the make-up of men and consequently their 
fate. Following an idea of the Greek philosophers, especially 
Aristotle, it was believed that all things were compounded of 
"the four elements" — earth, air, fire, and water. Each person 
was a particular mixture of these four elements, and the position 



Books and Science in the Middle Ages 473 

of the planets at the time of his birth was supposed to influence 
his mixture or "temperament" — that is to say, his character. 
By knowing a person's temperament one could judge what he 
ought to do in order to be successful in life, and what he should 
avoid. For example, if one were born under the influence of 
Venus he should be on his guard against violent love and should 
choose for a trade something connected with dress or adornment ; 
if he were born under Mars he might make armor or horseshoes 
or become a soldier. Many common words are really astrological 
terms, such as "ill-starred," "disastrous," "jovial," "saturnine," 
"mercurial" (derived from the names of the planets). Astrology 
was taught in the universities because it was supposed to be 
necessary for physicians to choose times when the stars were 
favorable for particular kinds of medical treatment. 

692. Alchemy. Alchemy was chemistry directed toward the 
discovery of a method of turning the baser metals, like lead and 
copper, into gold and silver. The alchemists, even if they did not 
succeed in their chief aim, learned a great deal incidentally in their 
laboratories, and finally our modern chemistry emerged from 
alchemy. Like astrology, alchemy goes back to ancient times, 
and the people of the thirteenth century got most of their ideas 
through the Mohammedans, who had in turn got theirs from the 
Greek books on the subjects. 

IV. Medieval Universities and Studies 

693. Origin of the Universities. All European countries now 
have excellent schools, colleges, and universities. These had their 
beginning in the later Middle Ages. With the incoming of the 
barbarian Germans and the break-up of the Roman Empire edu- 
cation largely disappeared and for hundreds of years there was 
nothing in western Europe, outside of Italy and Spain, correspond- 
ing to our universities and colleges. 

But by the end of the twelfth century the teachers had be- 
come so numerous in Paris that they formed a union, or guild, 
for the advancement of their interests. This union of professors 



474 History of Europe 

was called by the usual name for corporations in the Middle 
Ages, universitas ; hence our word " university." The king and 
the Pope both favored the university and granted the teachers 
and students many of the privileges of the clergy, a class to 
which they were regarded as belonging, because learning had for 
so many centuries been confined to the clergy. 

About the time that we find the beginnings of a university or 
guild of professors at Paris, another great institution of learning 
was growing up at Bologna. Here the chief attention was given 
not to theology, as at Paris, but to the study of the law, both 
Roman and church (canon) law. Students streamed to Bologna 
in greater and greater numbers. In order to protect themselves 
in a town where they were regarded as strangers, they also or- 
ganized themselves into such powerful unions that they were 
able to force the professors to obey the rules they laid down. 

The University of Oxford was founded in the time of Henry H, 
probably by English students and masters who had become dis- 
contented at Paris. The University of Cambridge, as well as 
numerous universities in France, Italy, and Spain, were founded 
in the thirteenth century. The German universities were estab- 
lished much later, most of them in the latter half of the fourteenth 
century and in the fifteenth. The northern institutions generally 
took the great mother university on the Seine as their model, while 
those in southern Europe usually adopted the methods of Bologna. 

694. The Academic Degree. When, after some years of study, 
a student was examined by the professors, he was, if successful, 
admitted to the corporation of teachers and became a master him- 
self. What we call a degree to-day was originally, in the medieval 
universities, nothing more than the right to teach ; but in the thir- 
teenth century many who did not care to become professors in 
our sense of the word began to desire the honorable title of master 
or doctor (which is only the Latin word for "teacher").^ 

1 The origin of the bachelor's degree, which comes at the end of our college course 
nowadays, may be explained as follows : The bachelor in the thirteenth century was a 
student who had passed part of his examinations in the course in " arts," as the college 
course was then called, and was permitted to teach certain elementary subjects before 
he became a full-fledged master. So the A.B. was inferior to the A.M. then as now. 



Books and Science in the Middle Ages 475 

695. Simple Methods of Instruction. The students in the 
medieval universities were of all ages, from thirteen to forty, and 
even older. There were no university buildings, and in Paris the 
lectures were given in the Latin Quarter, in Straw Street (so called 
from the straw strewn on the floors of the hired rooms where the 
lecturer explained the textbook, with the students squatting on the 
floor before him). There were no laboratories, for there was no 
experimentation. All that was required was a copy of the text- 
book. This the lecturer explained sentence by sentence, and the 
students listened and sometimes took notes. 

696. Veneration for Aristotle. The most striking peculiarity 
of the instruction in the medieval university was the supreme 
deference paid to Aristotle (§ 286). Most of the courses of lec- 
tures were devoted to the explanation of some one of his numerous 
treatises. The Latin translations were bad and obscure, and the 
lecturer had enough to do to give some meaning to them and to 
reconcile them to the teachings of Christianity. 

The teachers of the thirteenth century were so fascinated by his 
logic and astonished at his learning that the great theologians of 
the time, Albertus Magnus (d. 1280) and Thomas Aquinas 
(d. 1274), did not hesitate to prepare elaborate commentaries 
upon all his works. He was called "The Philosopher"; and so 
fully were scholars convinced that it had pleased God to permit 
Aristotle to say the last word upon each and every branch of 
knowledge that they humbly accepted him, along with the Bible, 
the church fathers, and the canon and Roman law, as one of the 
unquestioned authorities which together formed a complete guide 
for humanity in conduct and in every branch of science. 

697. Scholasticism. The name "scholasticism" is commonly 
given to the beliefs and method of discussion of the medieval 
professors. To those who later outgrew the fondness for logic 
and the supreme respect for Aristotle, scholasticism, with its neg- 
lect of Greek and Roman literature, came to seem an arid and 
profitless plan of education. Yet, if we turn over the pages of 
the wonderful works of Thomas Aquinas, we see that the scholastic 
philosopher might be a person of extraordinary insight and 



k 



476 History of Europe 

learning, ready to recognize all the objections to his position, and 
able to express himself with great clearness and cogency. The 
training in logic, if it did not increase the sum of human knowl- 
edge, accustomed the student to make careful distinctions and 
present his arguments in an orderly way. 

698. Course of Study. No attention was given in the medieval 
universities to the great subject of history, nor was Greek 
taught. Latin had to be learned in order to carry on the work 
at all, but little time was given to the Roman classics. The new 
modern languages were considered entirely unworthy of the 
learned. It must of course be remembered that none of the books 
which we consider the great classics in English, French, Italian, 
or Spanish had as yet been written. 

699. Petrarch tries to learn Greek. Although the medieval 
professors paid the greatest respect to the Greek philosopher 
Aristotle and made Latin translations of his works the basis of 
the college course, very few of them could read any Greek and 
none of them knew much about Homer or Plato or the Greek 
tragedians and historians. In the fourteenth century Petrarch 
(1304-1374) set the example in Italy of carefully collecting all 
the writings of the Romans, which he greatly admired. He made 
an unsuccessful effort to learn Greek, for he found that Cicero and 
other Roman writers were constantly referring with enthusiasm 
to the Greek books to which they owed so much. 

700. Chrysolaras begins to teach Greek in Florence (1396). 
Petrarch had not the patience or opportunity to master Greek, 
but twenty years after his death a learned Greek prelate from 
Constantinople, named Chrysoloras, came to Florence and found 
pupils eager to learn his language so that they could read the 
Greek books. Soon Italian scholars were going to Constantinople 
to carry on their studies, just as the Romans in Cicero's time had 
gone to Athens. They brought back copies of all the ancient 
writers that they could find, and by 1430 Greek books were once 
more known in the West, after a thousand years of neglect. 

701. The Humanists. In this way western Europe caught up 
with ancient times ; scholars could once more know all that the 



Books and Science in the Middle Ages 477 

Greeks and Romans had known and could read in the original 
the works of Homer, Sophocles, Herodotus, Plato, Aristotle, De- 
mosthenes, and other philosophers, historians, orators, and 
tragedians. Those who devoted their lives to a study of the 
literature of Greece and Rome were called Humanists. The name 
is derived from the Latin word humanitas, which means " culture." 
In time the colleges gave up the exclusive study of Aristotle and 
substituted a study of the Greek and Latin literature, and in this 
way what is known as our " classical " course of study originated. 

V. Beginnings of Modern Inventions 

702. Roger Bacon's Attack on Scholasticism. So long, how- 
ever, as intellectual men confined themselves to studying the old 
books of Greece and Rome they were not likely to advance be- 
yond what the Greeks and Romans had known. In order to 
explain modern discoveries and inventions we have to take account 
of those who began to suspect that Aristotle was ignorant and 
mistaken upon many important matters, and who set to work to 
examine things about them with the hope of finding out more 
than anyone had ever known before. 

Even in the thirteenth century there were a few scholars who 
criticized the habit of relying upon Aristotle for all knowledge. 
The most distinguished faultfinder was Roger Bacon, an English 
Franciscan monk (d. about 1290), who declared that even if 
Aristotle were very wise he had only planted the tree of knowl- 
edge and that this had "■ not as yet put forth all its branches nor 
produced all its fruits." " If we could continue to live for endless 
centuries we mortals could never hope to reach full and complete 
knowledge of all the things which are to be known. No one knows 
enough of nature completely to describe the peculiarities of a 
single fly and give the reason for its color and why it has just 
so many feet, no more and no less." 

703. Bacon foresees Great Inventions. Bacon declared that 
if men would only study common things instead of reading the 
books of the ancients, science would outdo the wonders which 



478 History of Europe 

people of his day thought could be produced by magic. He said 
that in time men would be able to fly, would have carriages which 
needed no horses to draw them and ships which would move 
swiftly without oars, and that bridges could be built without piers 
to support them. 

All this and much more has come true, but inventors and 
modern scientists owe but little to the books of the Greeks and 
Romans, which the scholastic philosophers and the Humanists 
relied upon. Although the Greek philosophers devoted consider- 
able attention to natural science, they were not much inclined to 
make long and careful experiments or to invent anything like 
the microscope or telescope to help them. Aristotle thought that 
the sun and all the stars revolved about the earth and that the 
heavenly bodies were perfect and unchangeable. He believed that 
heavy bodies fell faster than light ones and that all earthly things 
were made of the four elements — earth, air, water, and fire. The 
Greeks and Romans knew nothing of the compass, or gunpowder, 
or the printing press, or the uses to which steam can be put. 
Indeed, they had scarcely anything that we should call a machine. 

704. Discoveries of the Thirteenth Century. The thirteenth 
century witnessed certain absolutely new achievements in the 
history of mankind. The compass began to be utilized in a way 
to encourage bolder and bolder ventures out upon the ocean. The 
lens was discovered, and before the end of the century spectacles 
are mentioned. The lens made the later telescope, microscope, 
spectroscope, and camera possible, upon which so much of our 
modern science depends. The Arabic numerals began to take the 
place of the awkward Roman system of using letters. One can- 
not well divide XL VIII by VIII, but he can easily divide 48 by 8. 
Roger Bacon knew of the explosive nature of a compound of sul- 
phur, saltpeter, and charcoal, and a generation after his death gun- 
powder began to be used a little for guns and artillery. A docu- 
ment is still preserved referring to the making of brass cannon and 
balls in Florence in the year 1326. By 1350 powder works were 
in existence in at least three German towns, and French and 
English books refer now and then to its use. 



Books and Science in the Middle Ages 



479 



At least a hundred and fifty years elapsed, however, before 
gunpowder really began to supplant the old ways of fighting 
with bows and arrows and axes and lances. By the year 1500 
it was becoming clear that the old stone castles were insufficient 
protection against cannon, and a new type of unprotected castle 
began to be erected as residences of the kings and the nobility 
(see below. Fig. 130). 
Gunpowder has done 
away with armor, bows 
and arrows, spears and 
javelins, castles and 
walled towns. It may 
be that sometime some 
such fearfully destruc- 
tive compound may be 
discovered that the 
nations may decide to 
give up war altogether 
as too dangerous and 
terrible a thing to re- 
sort to under any cir- 
cumstances. 

705. Advantages of 
printing with Mov- 
able Type. The inven- 
tion of the compass, 

of the lens, and of gunpowder have helped to revolutionize the 
world. To these may be added the printing press, which has so 
facilitated and encouraged reading that it is nowadays rare to 
find anybody who cannot read. 

The Italian classical scholars of the fifteenth century suc- 
ceeded, as we have seen (§§ 699-701, above), in arousing a new 
interest in the books of the Greeks as well as of the Romans. 
They carefully collected every ancient work that they could lay 
hands on, made copies of it, edited it, and if it was in Greek 
translated it into Latin. While they were in the midst of this 




Fig. 122. Effects of Cannon on a 
Medieval Castle 



k 



480 History of Europe 

work certain patient experimenters in Germany and Holland were 
turning their attention to a new way of multiplying books rapidly 
and cheaply by the use of lead type and a press. 

706. Excellent Work of Medieval Copyists. The Greeks and 
Romans and the people of the Middle Ages knew no other method 
of obtaining a new copy of a book except by writing it out 
laboriously by hand. The professional copyists were incredibly 
dexterous with their quills, as may be seen in Fig. 123 — a page 
from a Bible of the thirteenth century which is reproduced in its 
original size.^ The letters are as clear, small, and almost as 
regular as if they had been printed. The whole volume, contain- 
ing the Old and New Testaments, is about the size of this history. 
After the scribe had finished his work the volume was often turned 
over to the illuminator, who would put in gay illuminated initials 
and sometimes page borders, which were delightful in design and 
color.- Books designed to be used in the Church services were 
adorned with pictures as well as with ornamented initials and 
decorative borders. Plate, p. 480, is a reproduction of a page from 
a Book of Hours in the library of Columbia University. It is 
the same size as the original. 

The written books were, in short, often both compact and 
beautiful, but they were never cheap or easily produced in great 
numbers. When Cosimo, the father of Lorenzo the Magnificent, 
wished to form a library just before the invention of printing, he 
applied to a contractor who engaged forty-five copyists. By work- 
ing hard for nearly two years they were able to produce only two 
hundred volumes for the new library. 

1 Fig. 123 is a reproduction, exactly the size of the original, of a page in a manu- 
script Bible of the thirteenth century (in Latin) belonging to the library of Columbia 
University. The page represented is taken from i Maccabees i, 56-ii, 65 (a portion of 
the Scriptures not usually included in the Protestant Bibles). It begins, "...ditis 
fugitivorum locis. Die quintadecima mensis Chalen, quinto quadragesimo et centesimo 
anno edificavit rex Antiochus abhominandum ydolum desolationis super altare Dei ; 
per universas civitates Jude in circuitum edificaverunt aras et ante januas domorum, et in 
plateis incendebantur thura, et sacrificabant et libros Dei legis com-busserunt." The 
scribes used a good many abbreviations, as was the custom of the time, and what is 
transcribed here fills five lines of the manuscript. 

2 The word " miniature," which is often applied to them, is derived from minium, 
that is, vermilion, which was one of the favorite colors. Later the word came to be 
applied to anything small. 




Page from a Book of Hours, Fifteenth Century 
(Original Size) 



p«B! 



fa:iol4n«nrf*f}i«ilai»in^iuiu<i:)*atut3tcruj|iruta>6u 






tt»tlMn wtTibrt U ! <U4riu a wu>ua ;Hmii»wfll)frWiJl»»»|«'H 



tt-fitt fioAntrltie wl2 iGaicl ((ui tnuettduntnftnnnm ' 
ntfn^Hnmtnatiii; S-nucCutuait-m(nfi«Cf<r(fieiIuitrib 

OMf'C Mttt'uidat.OTtWfeufiaum m4E>wtt|pCmtuAii 

■«»f nnt«imimndoui»t-w»tt«igA<luttgfrmuIttarHfl?«8t' 

a>8wKtimr4f ^e^r^nm^l1>n att^tr» nun^JT<te^Bt1»»rl _^ 

ii i4itiftn«u<timntil>tfomgi»tnanwtm<>t»^«nto«li>i» 
■mthm tCTtf-ltigm Seiftnn muabxtt <unt; i-fena loinii 

■fibttf i«b4«mf fif>i<>>inf»nif Otafefl ftrgUi<'>>«mi4t> i 
iifriimtanfaitrm'ntnrrmeliyn itiAbAtteiibt* ijmm 

_mmjlutur THtS/T'}uftaa <)*" mg«l>»urminj>»lwrft<<tf 

_ _^i4Tur(iHt(cgn«min;ilutur^>}ut)m'£3ut{u*iliu<r9iml 

1i«t«f>«5bttf.Tn>utA!mnrmaUetutfid>«tt-m-ppid» 

wteUTtntt4ttfi&dtft»i>ud\tlltuCSeml<it<A-t^tu<uf 

-Cim uite»aBtu{>twn« ppuli nut Toratuunnui tcmf <l^ 

ertt^tuonfium <3iRcl!«mp1ttm <wf <!(tn-Ivnwisn<>lNft« 

frgifpnf oymu Ab<faMOfi»Htn»(tnA»tlCmf Qtitftntf 

tnfductfTtunauraufatiiiatmtrmgUtialiniM^t-Ai^ 

* _gjpiti»tfntir|ifmitm<»«i«mdtialmituw<^aiti«nwr!' 

, fl>>tmtfaii 4 » 6 o««iir4M aw ftf[ueaiB'b]«i£iSi&m»lb» 

_^awup imHit>tin« 't»m|^B«Ctfrto>»t'mjdwrfn«rrfllg"^ 

2ti fr nctutisnr tutu qtu mtiQ<t^if4t^ge^ntuelp uti) 
^ _2ct^Ettt* £M cjitt ottwttsnf 40 ttttiQMtti tntfvttft unmnAtp 

^ :fi^*^)l l tt^ l l4« » l^fAat^^mmf4^tB^;ft t tnaA«d)uf r8 
. lutm.f'cntfianfilcmtme iftnc^niicmcrttutimffi^SBtr 
M4ntui)» divcA-.trUtlvt^ue^jmtutp* tttul3limu<ip 

_ yMW tey iWTfctntflUm-tagpfflatt-fttcrtintTwmidyi 
'tcfzuttiiM&tiipuiinunlhimt-tntt^xctff'tutfiltf 
ou utnKnraMfngtri ompUficmiT /ngicms ViOtt^ » 
•miMtttikj-mtawP Srt^f^ondtrm^tKtthufsebvtmtt' 
y»xnu «t.Tfl <tniMf{tPffltftttni4nn«fpottdttmfttrJif 
olurmmti^tOfi 4'<l>cmtskg;ir|mriunflui;>T«»nOn'' 
;tl4nrmltn^ntfmt<^ga'TfiI»m«t«'ft^ncrmcto'lc(it 

W^^UfU|ii<i^tnil«ieg[cm T>u<lta*r.2(t>1^«tumdmtr' 

Jtg;ifnafitv-t>un«.aci.tit-omiur4}ttt»«ti4.$*t>t'«(E» 
- .!»«■ ■«?«» u«rfii1» 4«tfll^qtu^J»tl TUitaCmMmvuxm 
eaOxCiMttdaxiytoitriu^a^m inaaxatevieAimp' 
■pttCUnt ngO. Sv-utdtv maituihvtfitolutr.t m uWuu ? 
imuir ttncf cutf !4«at&f f'fumettfiiBmilitm uiA( ' 
^ J tuun'lqtpCrmfUiasfiifwiddwt-ramfU^jts^m.S.'itu 



Cturftnr flittff T anil m «Iia CUanmf^aKllitUmr ttttti 4 
ii)t4fm<tmtat«u«ermigTU(iucnC Otnnifypa jdtim^ ; 
I^gjifftaaiairitifaL- Kmstm^rarpOtneft'eigtri^f 
l^tnifti fl itpi trt l ^ mmwiaCttitepurtuit'yMnumM r 
lutirmmttattlkmctta«Mtefanrinuta(tumnitf uube t 



:r^ 



ctS'enmnqMttu ({fitntdueuittair<ug«rmd*.<&i£m ! 
(ummcft-imtfiq^ctmimwttuctim'uti^cf&uumxtr 

tflastrnpttvceunt- pnO-cM i («v(btuetmf jjmtfluf «rw i^ 
tami fafOa vmig^^vmm rjtaw. 6 dWm< imnu jaij^ 

<l>miufnfeaBniifutrimmt%ifiarpinii4»tn»f»Mm '&^q>. 
^ommaatttmtuftiureM <Drpttlu>mini«(|mteiii<irf39j 
nttUpitaittUtaii>trtlbfnce«{nlAuMutrUtuetuii)t> 

tttMumxietiifir'mttatjdmtim. fe-imnlnimra 

mdl^^ntttijtf^MttmS'^ tagutaarnuttut^u* T^ntutm^ 
»1it(timt^nitn9fi^eM>uUBftiiaMrtu^pyun«fit«^i{ 

(b^tetrturutM^ l&<iig nitn<Hmr -»te»na ihwm«g.flltna| 
^Mna ifiamaifnttmiPJlHtaCtttlMe oxdtttaiaiauirfsagfit 
taardtuttSit onnttimntauinim^ettmitfiatrtiumsl 

UUU) ntXt60WmlttOUllXt» l4nt£CDn0tBBpUliC45tXtlxft0?w 

uagy tttte m C i m f«i?ia!K»gifc;-«inmftMlanigiiat?ii^ 
Kumrf qittfli«prtvraP4mi>lif »i<dni fettrjtcBftfatfii 
illif4tfot»Mnmtt&fe«iU gMtim ^wtttuwiT^ 

iMc»t€npawtr4tt ii«ti a nif weBatwfag(fra 

ttmtW4f24> f1Htffnf T t>flllHmuU- 4i 

KniAne^rgftnttifiairfibM fliplncip^oaMn&pufinint 
|nn(o^> fratmtinfrtinrUg8mtrnianil^jrntMtin.-iaHti3»fa 

^^unc^iiltt cflatr(imil4taun9fzan*4nuruf nafpttfti 

^ wi^ 94tttpi(ttr{[uftt ttuipum TtiMn tttiiustii* 
tmrnwnpcNimrmaajturreMiiEittttmtMLt 
^eu3iu<faaain.ynpl)mtn^4n2ttflinufl<0tmrm3. 

tndB 4ttc|iii icfLuiiuim ucct^MstitiAn-jffbtf Mtpuc 
ulnnn '6«urf 2uv (ft€ (d>at*|lb (butt ttfltAsmtf fiiT ' 
'\x MtapitYpMaaxcut.'&Attib m^ttntu mi&tiwtf' 

|»fdHnid«n.'3w«niiTr,i;imiWftmttd otimttCbteM 

,tpMmufcpa ffttanr tn aim n tnfimune (Eriubif nui tie 
\aautr-nmxunuttwr-qttu.glAmttAtilmCrmnitt^i)mt 

Ettaw tturpre''ria>yfflu«tifenamimTnit<^im'4fe- 
icgp (tma m 4^ jjbMMl ctfiw. (Et-«ttrflniun M^uA^ 
j^tiirtomantfflui»i}>m4suiarQn9T^«i^ti<%«£ 



Fig. 123. Page from a Copy of the Bible made in the Thirteenth 
Century, showing Perfection of the Best Work (see note, p. 480) 



482 History of Europe 

707. Errors of Copyists. Moreover, it was impossible before 
the invention of printing to have two copies of the same work 
exactly alike. Even with the greatest care a scribe could not 
avoid making some mistakes, and a careless copyist was sure 
to make a great many. With the invention of printing it became 
possible to produce in a short time a great many copies 
of a given book which were exactly alike. Consequently, 



C/«>n 



lMm9iiralmQ^rQie)r.*1xiinSarrraptraUutErO' 
fratua •nibdrauonibur^ &tffinmter Diftinitue' 
laDinurnronr amfirlofa ImprimmDi arraraitm^anDi: 
'abr^Dllaralamirraratonertrrffigiatiie'naiilauiitni 
itriar^notefaniti9aiobit&o(umat9,perj|o§tmfufl' 
riufmagutmu-frpftm^ilpifl)?rtrgtmf^)iiidmm' 
'^nno Dnipilernno mr liMrtF^Oie^mnifid^ugiilli^ 

Fig. 124. Closing Lines of the Psalter of 1459 
(MUCH reduced) 

The closing lines (that is, the so-called colophon) of the second edition of the 
Psalter, which are here reproduced, are substantially the same as those of the 
first edition. They may be translated as follows : " The present volume of 
the Psalms, which is adorned with handsome capitals and is clearly divided by 
means of rubrics, was produced not by writing with a pen but by an ingenious 
invention of printed characters ; and was completed to the glory of God and 
the honor of St. James by John Fust, a citizen of Mayence, and Peter Schoifher 
of Gernsheim, in the year of our Lord 1459, on the 29th of August" 



if sufficient care was taken to see that the types were properly set, 
the whole edition, not simply a single copy, might be relied upon 
as correct. 

708. Paper introduced into Western Europe. After the supply 
of papyrus — the paper of the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans — 
was cut off from Europe by the conquest of Egypt by the Moham- 
medans the people of the Middle Ages used parchment, made from 
the skin of lambs and goats. This was so expensive that printing 
would have been of but little use, even if it had been thought of, 



Books and Science in the Middle Ages 



483 



before paper was introduced into Europe by the Mohammedans/ 
Paper began to become common in the thirteenth and fourteenth 
centuries and was already replacing parchment before the inven- 
tion of printing. 

709. The Earliest Printed Books. The earliest book of any 
considerable size to be printed was the Bible, which appears to 
have been completed at May- 
ence in the year 1456. A year 
later the famous Mayence 
Psalter was finished, the first 
dated book (Fig. 124). There 
are, however, earlier examples 
of little books printed with 
engraved blocks and even with 
movable types. In the Ger- 
man towns, where the art 
spread rapidly, the printers 
adhered to the style of letters 
which the scribe had found it 
convenient to make with his 
quill — the so-called Gothic, or 
black letter. In Italy, how- 
ever, where the first printing 
press was set up in 1466, a 
type was soon adopted which 
resembled the letters used in 
ancient Roman inscriptions. 
This was quite similar to the 
style of letter commonly used 
to-day. The Italians also invented the compressed italic type, 
which enabled them to get a great many words on a page. The 
early printers generally did their work conscientiously, and the 
very first book printed is in most respects as well done as any 
later book. 




Fig. 125. An Old-fashioned 
Printing Office 

Until the nineteenth century printing 
was carried on with very little machin- 
ery. The type was inked by hand, 
then the paper laid on and the form 
slipped under a wooden press operated 
by hand by means of a lever 



1 The Arabs seem to have derived their knowledge of paper-making from the 
Chinese. 



484 History of Europe 

By the year 1 500, after printing had been used less than half 
a century, there appear to have been at least forty printing 
presses to be found in various towns of Germany, France, Italy, 
the Netherlands, and England. These presses had, it is estimated, 
already printed eight millions of volumes. So there was no longer 
any danger of the old books being again lost, and the encourage- 
ment to write and publish new books was greatly increased. From 
that date our sources for history become far more voluminous 
than those which exist for the previous history of the world ; we 
are much better informed in regard to events and conditions since 
1500 than we ever can be respecting those of the earlier periods. 

VI. The Art of the Renaissance 

710. Development of Art in Italy. We have already de- 
scribed briefly the work of the medieval architects and referred 
to the beautiful carvings that adorned the Gothic cathedrals and 
to the pictures of saints and angels in stained glass which filled 
the great church windows. But in the fourteenth and fifteenth 
centuries art developed in a most astonishing manner in Italy and 
set new standards for all of western Europe. 

Florence was the great center of artistic activity during the 
fifteenth century. The greatest sculptors and almost all of the 
most famous painters and architects of the time either were natives 
of Florence or did their best work there. During the first half of 
the century sculpture again took the lead. The bronze doors of 
the baptistery at Florence by Ghiberti, which were completed in 
1452, are among the finest products of Renaissance sculpture 
(Fig. 126).^ 

Florence reached the height of its preeminence as an art center 
during the reign of Lorenzo the Magnificent, who was a devoted 
patron of all the arts. With his death (1492) this preeminence 
passed to Rome, which was fast becoming one of the great capitals 

1 Opposite the cathedral at Florence (Fig. 120) stands the ancient baptisteiy. Its 
northern bronze doors, with ten scenes from the Bible, surrounded by a very lovely 
border of foliage, birds, and animals, were completed by Lorenzo Ghiberti in 1452, after 
many years of labor. Michael Angelo declared them worthy to be the gates of heaven. 




Courtesy oS Braun et C'^ 

Fig. 126. Ghiberti's Doors at Florence 




Courtesy oS Braun et C'® 

Fig. 127. Holy Family by Andrea del Sarto 



Books and Science in the Middle Ages 485 

of Europe. The art-loving popes, Julius II and Leo X, took pains 
to secure the services of the most distinguished artists and archi- 
tects of the time in the building and adornment of St. Peter's and 
the Vatican ; that is, the papal church and palace (see above, 
§670). 

711. Height of Renaissance Art — Da Vinci, Michael Angelo, 
Raphael. During the sixteenth century the art of the Renais- 
sance reached its highest development. Among all the great 
artists of this period three stand out prominently — Leonardo da 
Vinci, Michael Angelo, and Raphael. The first two not only 
practiced but achieved distinction in the three arts of archi- 
tecture, sculpture, and painting.^ It is impossible to give in a 
few lines any idea of the beauty and significance of the work of 
these great geniuses. Both Raphael and Michael Angelo left be- 
hind them so many and such magnificent frescoes and paintings, 
and in the case of Michael Angelo statues as well, that it is easy 
to appreciate their importance. Leonardo, on the other hand, 
left but little completed work. His influence on the art of his 
time, which was probably greater than that of either of the others, 
came from his many-sidedness, his originality, and his unflagging 
interest in the discovery and application of new methods. He was 
almost more experimenter than artist. 

While Florence could no longer boast of being the art center 
of Italy, it still produced great artists, among whom Andrea del 
Sarto may be especially mentioned (Fig. 127). But the most 
important center of artistic activity outside of Rome in the six- 
teenth century was Venice. The distinguishing characteristic of 
the Venetian pictures is their glowing color. This is strikingly 
exemplified in the paintings of Titian, the most famous of all 
the Venetian painters.- 

712. Painting in Northern Europe. It was natural that 
artists from the northern countries should be attracted by the 
renown of the Italian masters and, after learning all that Italy 
could teach them, should return home to practice their art in 

1 Leonardo was engineer and inventor as well. 

2 See Fig. 128. 



486 History of Europe 

their own particular fashion. About a century after painting be- 
gan to develop in Italy two Flemish brothers, Van Eyck by name, 
showed that they were not only able to paint quite as excellent 
pictures as the Italians of their day, but they also discovered a 
new way of mixing their colors superior to that employed in Italy. - 
Later, when painting had reached its height in Italy, Albrecht 
Durer and Hans Holbein the Younger ^ in Germany vied with even 
Raphael and Michael Angelo in the mastery of their art. Diirer 
is especially celebrated for his wonderful woodcuts and copper- 
plate engravings, in which field he has perhaps never been 
excelled. 

When, in the seventeenth century, painting had declined south 
of the Alps, Dutch and Flemish masters — above all, Rubens 
and Rembrandt — developed a new and admirable school of 
painting. To Van Dyck, another Flemish master, we owe many 
notable portraits of historically important persons.- Spain gave 
to the world in the seventeenth century a painter whom some 
would rank higher than even the greatest artists of Italy, namely, 
Velasquez (1599-1660). His genius, like that of Van Dyck, is 
especially conspicuous in his marvelous portraits. 

QUESTIONS 

I. Why was Latin used by learned men, churchmen, scholars, and 
lawyers in the Middle Ages ? What is the origin of the Germanic 
languages ? of the Romance tongues ? When does English become 
sufficiently modern for us to read it easily without special study ? 
What is the character of the French romances of the Middle Ages ? 

II. Who were the troubadours ? Describe chivalry and the ideal 
knight. 

III. Why did people know little of history in the Middle Ages ? 
Give some examples of the beliefs in regard to the habits of animals 
and the existence of strange races of men. What value was supposed 
to come from studying the habits of animals ? Define astrology. 
What words do we use that recall the beliefs of the Middle Ages in 
regard to the influence of the stars on man ? What was alchemy ? 

1 See below, Fig. 132. 

2 See below, Figs. 146 and 148. 



Books and Science in the Middle Ages 487 

IV. What was a " university " originally ? Mention some early uni- 
versities. What was the origin of our degrees ? What subjects were 
studied in a medieval university ? Why was Aristotle so venerated 
by the medieval scholars ? What was scholasticism ? How and when 
were Greek books again brought into western Europe ? Who were 
the Humanists ? Why did not the Humanists make any discoveries ? 

V. Why did Roger Bacon criticize the enthusiasm for Aristotle ? 
What great inventions did he foresee ? What great new discoveries 
were made in the thirteenth century ? What effects did the introduc- 
tion of gunpowder have ? How were books made before the invention 
of printing ? What are the disadvantages of a book copied by hand ? 
What is the earhest large printed book ? How rapidly did printing 
spread ? What do you consider the chief effects of the introduction 
of printing ? 

VI. Say something of the chief artists of the Renaissance in Italy 
and their work. Name some of the artists of the sixteenth and seven- 
teenth centuries who lived outside of Italy. 



BOOK VII. THE PROTESTANT REVOLT 
AND THE WARS OF RELIGION 

CHAPTER XXXI 
EMPEROR CHARLES V AND HIS VAST REALMS 

I. Emperor Maximilian and the Hapsburg Marriages 

713. Charles V's Empire. In the year 1500 a baby was born 
in the town of Ghent who was destined before he reached the age 
of twenty to rule, as Emperor Charles V, over more of Europe 
than anyone since Charlemagne. He owed his vast empire not 
to any conquests of his own but to an extraordinary series of 
royal marriages which made him heir to a great part of western 
Europe. These marriages had been arranged by his grandfather, 
Maximilian I, one of the most successful matchmakers that ever 
lived. Maximilian belonged to the House of Hapsburg, and in 
order to understand European history since 1500 we must learn 
something of Maximilian and the Hapsburg line. 

714. Reasons why the German Kings failed to establish a 
Strong State. The German kings had failed to create a strong 
kingdom such as those over which Louis XI of France and 
Henry VII of England ruled. Their fine title of emperor had 
made them a great deal of trouble and done them no good, as we 
have seen (§§ 584, 585, 597, 599). Their attempts to keep Italy 
as well as Germany under their rule, and the alliance of the 
mighty bishop of Rome with their enemies, had well-nigh ruined 
them. Their position was further weakened by the fact that their 
office • was not strictly hereditary. Although the emperors were 
often succeeded by their sons, each new emperor had to be elected, 
and those great vassals who controlled the election naturally took 

488 



Emperor Charles V and his Vast Realms 489 

care to bind the candidate by solemn promises not to interfere 
with their privileges and independence. The result was that, 
after the downfall of the Hohenstaufens, Germany fell apart into 
a great number of practically independent states, of which none 
were very large and some were extremely small. 

715. The Imperial Title Hereditary in the House of Austria. 
After art interregnum, Rudolf of Hapsburg had been chosen 
emperor in 1273 (§600). The original seat of the Hapsburgs, 
who were destined to play such a great part in European affairs, 
was in northern Switzerland, where the vestiges of their original 
castle may still be seen. Rudolf was the first prominent member 
of the family ; he established its position and influence by seizing 
the duchies of Austria and Styria, which became, under his suc- 
cessors, the nucleus of the extensive Austrian possessions. 

About a century and a half after the death of Rudolf the 
Gernian princes began regularly to choose as their emperor the 
ruler of the Austrian possessions, so that the imperial title became, 
to all intents and purposes, hereditary in the Hapsburg line. 
The Hapsburgs were, however, far more interested in adding to 
their family domains than in advancing the interests of the Ger- 
man Empire as a whole. Indeed, the Holy Roman Empire was 
nearly defunct, and, in the memorable words of Voltaire, it had 
ceased to be either holy, or Roman, or an empire. 

716. Maximilian and the Hapsburg Marriages. Maximilian, 
while still a very young man, married Mary of Burgundy, the 
heiress to the Burgundian realms, which included what we now 
call Holland and Belgium and portions of eastern France. In 
this way the House of Austria got a hold on the shores of the 
North Sea. Mary died in 1482, and her lands were inherited by 
her infant son, Philip. Maximilian's next matrimonial move was 
to arrange a marriage between his son, Philip, and Joanna, the 
heiress to the Spanish kingdoms, and this makes it necessary for 
us to turn a moment to Spain, of which little or nothing has 
been said since we saw how the kingdom of the West Goths was 
overthrown by the Mohammedan invaders, over seven hundred 
years before Maximilian's time ( § 502 ) . 



490 History oj Europe 

717. Arab Civilization in Spain. The Mohammedan conquest 
served to make the history of Spain very different from that of 
the other states of Europe. One of its first and most important 
results was the conversion of a great part of the inhabitants to 
Mohammedanism. During the tenth century, which was so dark 
a period in the rest of Europe, the Arab civilization in Spain 
reached its highest development. Cordova, with its half million 
of inhabitants, its stately palaces, its university, its three thousand 
mosques, and its three hundred public baths, was perhaps un- 
rivaled at that period in the whole world. 

718. The Rise of New Christian Kingdoms in Spain. But 
the Christians were destined to reconquer the peninsula. As early 
as the year looo^ several small Christian kingdoms — Castile, 
Aragon, and Navarre — had come into existence in the northern 
part of Spain. Castile, in particular, began to push back the 
Mohammedans and, in 1085, reconquered Toledo from them.' 
By 1250 the long war of the Christians against the Moham- 
medans, which fills the medieval annals of Spain, had been so 
successfully prosecuted that Castile extended to the south coast 
and included the great towns of Cordova and Seville. The Chris- 
tian kingdom of Portugal was already as large as it is to-day. 

The Moors, as the Spanish Mohammedans were called, held 
out for two centuries more in the mountainous kingdom of 
Granada, in the southern part of the peninsula. Not until 1492, 
after a long siege, was the city of Granada captured by the 
Christians and the last vestige of Mohammedan rule disappeared. 

719. Spain becomes a European Power. The first Spanish 
monarch whose name need be mentioned here was Queen Isabella 
of Castile, who, in 1469, concluded an all-important marriage 
with Ferdinand, the heir of the crown of Aragon. It is with this 
union of Castile and Aragon that the great importance of Spain 
in European history begins. For the next hundred years Spain 
was to enjoy more military power than any other European state. 

In the same year that the conquest of the peninsula was com- 
pleted, the discoveries of Columbus, made under the auspices of 
Queen Isabella, opened up sources of undreamed-of wealth beyond 

1 See map above, p. 388. 



Emperor Charles V and his Vast Realms 491 

the seas. The greatness of Spain in the sixteenth century was 
largely due to the riches derived from her American posses- 
sions. The shameless and cruel looting of the Mexican and 
Peruvian cities by Cortes and Pizarro (§ 678), and the silver 
mines of the New World, enabled Spain to assume, for a time, 
a position in Europe which her ordinary resources would never 
have permitted. 

720. Revival of the Inquisition. Unfortunately, the most in- 
dustrious, skillful, and thrifty among the inhabitants of Spain, 
that is, the Moors and the Jews, who well-nigh supported the whole 
kingdom by their toil, were bitterly persecuted by the Christians. 
So anxious was Isabella to rid her kingdom of the infidels that 
she revived the court of the Inquisition (§627). For several 
decades its tribunals arrested and condemned innumerable persons 
who were suspected of heresy, and thousands were burned at the 
stake during this period. These wholesale executions have served 
to associate Spain especially with the horrors of the Inquisition. 

721. Charles and his Possessions. It was no wonder that 
the daughter and heiress of Ferdinand and Isabella seemed to 
Maximilian an admirable match for his son, Philip. Philip died, 
however, in 1506, — six years after his eldest son Charles was born, 
— and his poor wife, Joanna, became insane with grief and was thus 
incapacitated for ruling. So Charles could look forward to an un- 
precedented accumulation of glorious titles as soon as his grand- 
fathers, Maximilian of Austria and Ferdinand of Aragon, should 
pass away.^ He was soon to be duke of Brabant, margrave of Ant- 
werp, count of Holland, archduke of Austria, count of Tyrol, king 
of Castile, Aragon, and Naples,- and of the vast Spanish posses- 
sions in America — to mention a few of his more important titles. 

1 Austria Burgundy • Castile Aragon Naples, etc. 

(America) 
Maximilian I = Mary (d. 14S2), Isabella — Ferdinand (d. 15 16) 



(d. 15 19) 

Philip (d. 1506) • Joanna the Irisane (d. 1555) 



dau. of Charles (d. 1504) 

the Bold (d. 1477) 



Charles V (d. 1558) Ferdinand (d. 1564) = Anna, heiress to kingdoms 

Emperor, 1519-1556 Emperor, 1556-1564 of Bohemia and Hungary 

2 Naples and Sicily were in the hands of the king of Aragon at this time (see note, 
p. 493, below). 



492 



History of Europe 



Ferdinand died in 1516, and Charles, now a lad of sixteen, who 
had been born and reared in the Netherlands, was much be- 
wildered when he first landed in his Spanish dominions. The 
Burgundian advisers whom be brought with him were distasteful 




Fig. 1 28. Charles V at the Age of 48. (By Titian) 



to the haughty Spaniards, to whom, of course, they were for- 
eigners ; suspicion and opposition awaited him in each of his 
several Spanish kingdoms, for he found by no means a united 
Spain. Each kingdom demanded special recognition of its rights 
and proposed important reforms before it would acknowledge 
Charles as its king. 

722. Charles elected Emperor (1519). It seemed as if the 
boy would have his hands full in asserting his authority as the 



Emperor Charles V and his Vast Realms 493 

first " king of Spain " ; nevertheless, a still more imposing title 
and still more perplexing responsibilities were to fall upon his 
shoulders before he was twenty years old. It had long been 
Maximilian's ambition that his grandson should succeed him upon 
the imperial throne. After his death in 15 19 the electors finally 
chose Charles as emperor — the fifth of that name — instead of 
the rival candidate, Francis I of France. By this election the 
king of Spain, who had not yet been in Germany and who never 
learned its language, became its ruler at a critical juncture, when 
the teachings of Luther (see next chapter) were adding a new 
kind of trouble to the old disorders. 

II. How Italy became the Battleground of the 
European Powers 

723. Charles VIII of France invades Italy. In order to 
understand the Europe of Charles V and the constant wars which 
occupied him all his life, we must turn back and review the ques- 
tions which had been engaging the attention of his fellow kings 
before he came to the throne. It is particularly necessary to see 
clearly how Italy had suddenly become the center of commotion — 
the battlefield for Spain, France, and Germany. 

Charles VIII of France (1483-1498) possessed little of the 
practical sagacity of his father, Louis XI (§580). He dreamed 
of a mighty expedition against the Turks and of the conquest of 
Constantinople. As the first step he determined to lead an army 
into Italy and assert his claim, inherited from his father, to the 
kingdom of Naples, which was in the hands of the House of 
Aragon.i While Italy had everything to lose by permitting a 
powerful foreign monarch to get a foothold in the South, there 
was no probability that the various little states into which the 

1 It will be remembered that the popes, in their long struggle with Frederick II and 
the Hohenstaufens, finally called in Charles of Anjou, the brother of St. Louis, and gave 
to him both Naples and Sicily (§ 599). Sicily revolted in 1282 and was united with the 
kingdom of Aragon, which still" held it when Charles V came to the Spanish throne. 
Naples also was conquered by the king of Aragon, and was in his family when Charles 
VIII undertook his Italian expedition. Louis XI, although he claimed the right of the 
French to rule in Naples, had prudently refused to attempt to oust the Aragonese 
usurpers, as he had quite enough to do at home. 



494 History of Europe 

peninsula was divided would lay aside their animosities and com- 
bine against the invader. On the contrary, Charles VIII was 
urged by some of the Italians themselves to come. 

The success of the French king seemed marvelous ; he marched 
down the Italian peninsula without opposition. As he approached 
Florence the people, roused by the preaching of a famous Domini- 
can friar, Savonarola, revolted against the rule of the Medici and 
established a republic. But the insignificant and ugly figure of 
the French king sadly disappointed them. So he soon deemed 
it wise to continue his way southward. Naples speedily fell into 
his hands. But he and his troops were demoralized by the wines 
and other pleasures of the South, and meanwhile his enemies 
at last began to form a combination against him. Ferdinand 
of Aragon was fearful lest he might lose Sicily, and Emperor 
Maximilian objected to having the French control Italy. Charles's 
situation became so dangerous that he may well have thought 
himself fortunate, at the close of 1495, to escape, with the loss 
of only a single battle, from the country he had hoped to conquer. 

724. Results of Charles's Expedition. The results of Charles 
VIII 's expedition appear at first sight trivial ; in reality they 
were momentous. In the first place, it was now clear to Europe 
that the Italians had no real national feeling, however much they 
might despise the "barbarians" who lived north of the Alps. 
From this time down to the latter half of the nineteenth century, 
Italy was dominated by foreign nations, especially Spain and 
Austria. In the second place, the French learned to admire the 
art and culture of Italy (§§664-670, 699-701, 710-711). The 
nobles began to change their feudal castles, which since the inven- 
tion of gunpowder were no longer impregnable, into luxurious 
palaces and country houses. The new scholarship of Italy also 
took root and flourished not only in France but in England and 
Germany as well, and Greek began to be studied outside of Italy. 
Consequently, just as Italy was becoming, politically, the victim 
of foreign aggressions, it was also losing, never to regain, that 
intellectual leadership which it had enjoyed since the revival of 
interest in Latin and Greek literature. 



Emperor Charles V and his Vast Realms 495 

725. Francis I and his Attempt to conquer Northern Italy. 
It would be wearisome and unprofitable to follow the attempts 
of the French to get a foothold in northern Italy. Suffice it to 
say that Charles VIII soon died and that his successor Louis XII 
laid claim to the duchy of Milan in the north as well as to 
Naples in the south. But he concluded to sell his claim to Naples 




Fig. 129. Francis I 

to Ferdinand of Aragon and centered his attention on holding 
Milan, but did not succeed in his purpose, largely owing to the 
opposition of the Pope. 

Francis I, who came to the French throne in 151 5 at the age 
of twenty, is one of the most famous of the French kings. He 
was gracious and chivalrous in his ideas of conduct, and his 
proudest title was "the gentleman king," Like his contempo- 
raries. Pope Leo X, son of Lorenzo de' Medici, and Henry VIII 
of England, he helped artists and men of letters and was interested 
in fine buildings, of which a striking example is shown on the 
following page (Fig. 130). 



496 



History of Europe 



Francis opened his reign by a very astonishing victory. He 
led his troops into Italy, over a pass which had hitherto been 
regarded as impracticable for cavalry, and defeated the Swiss — 
who were in the Pope's pay — at Marignano. He then occupied 
Milan and opened negotiations with Leo X, who was glad to 




Fig. 130. Court of the Palace at Blois 

The expedition of Charles VIII to Italy called the attention of French archi- 
tects to the beautiful Renaissance style used there. As cannon had by this 
timp begun to render the old kind of castles with thick walls and towers use- 
less as a means of defense, the French kings began to construct magnificent 
palaces of which several still exist. Charles VIII's successor, Louis XII, 
began a handsome structure at Blois, on the Loire River, and Francis I added 
a wing, the inner side of which is here reproduced. Its magnificent open 
staircase and wide, high windows have little in common with the old donjons 

of feudal times 



make terms with the victorious young king. The Pope agreed 
that Francis should retain Milan, and Francis on his part acceded 
to Leo's plan for turning over Florence once more to the Medici, 
the family to which the Pope himself belonged. This was done, 
and some years later this wonderful republic became the grand 
duchy of Tuscany, governed by a line of petty princes under 
whom its former glories were never renewed. 



Emperor Charles V and his Vast Realms 49^ 






726. Sources of Discord between France and the Hapsburgs. 

Friendly relations existed at first between the two young 
sovereigns, Francis I and Charles V, but there were several 
circumstances which , 

led to an almost inces- ^• 

sant series of wars be- 
tween them. France 
was clamped in be- 
tween the northern and 
southern possessions of 
Charles and had at 
that time no natural 
boundaries. Moreover, there was 
a standing dispute over portions 
of the Burgundian realms. Charles 
also believed that, through his 
grandfather, Maximilian, he was 
entitled to Milan, which the 
French kings had set their hearts 
upon retaining. For a generation 
the rivals fought over these and 
other matters, and the wars be- 
tween Charles and Francis were 
but the prelude to a conflict last- 
ing over two centuries between 
France and the overgrown power 
of the House of Hapsburg. 

727. Charles V goes to Ger- 
many. In 1520 Charles V started 
for Germany to receive the im- 
perial crown at Aix-la-Chapelle. 
On his way he landed in England with the purpose of keeping 
Henry VHI from forming an alliance with Francis. He then 
set sail for the Netherlands, where he was duly crowned king of 
the Romans. From there he proceeded, for the first time, to 
Germany, where he summoned his first diet at Worms. 







Fig. 131. The Walls of 
rothenburg 

One town in Germany, Rothen- 
burg on the little river Tauber, 
once a free imperial city, retains 
its old walls and towers intact and 
many of its old houses. It gives 
the visitor an excellent idea of how 
the smaller imperial towns looked 
two or three hundred years ago 



49^ History of Europe 

III. Condition of Germany when Charles V became 

Emperor 

728. The "Germanies" of the Sixteenth Century. In the 
time of Charles V there was no such Germany as that which 
precipitated the World War in 19 14, but only what the French 
called the "Germanies"; that is, two or three hundred states, 
which differed greatly from one another in size and character. 
This one had a duke, that a count, at its head, while others were 
ruled over by archbishops, bishops, or abbots. There were many 
cities, like Nuremberg, Frankfort, and Cologne, just as independ- 
ent as the great duchies of Bavaria, Wiirtemberg, and Saxony. 
Lastly there were the knights, whose possessions might consist of 
a single strong castle with a wretched village lying at its foot. 

As for the emperor, he no longer had any power to control his 
vassals. He had neither money nor soldiers. At the time of 
Luther's birth the poverty-stricken Frederick III (Maximilian's 
father) might have been seen picking up a free meal at a monas- 
tery or riding behind a slow but economical ox team. The real 
power in Germany lay in the hands of the more important vas- 
sals, seven of whom were called the electors, because, since the 
thirteenth century, they had enjoyed the right to elect the emperor. 

The towns, which had grown up since the great economic 
revolution that had brought in commerce and the use of money 
in the thirteenth century, were centers of culture in the north of 
Europe, just as those of Italy were in the south. Some of the 
towns were direct vassals of the emperor and were consequently 
independent of the particular prince within whose territory they 
were situated. These were called free, or imperial, cities and 
must be reckoned among the states of Germany. 

The knights, who ruled over the smallest of the German ter- 
ritories, had earlier formed a very important class, but the intro- 
duction of gunpowder and new methods of fighting put them at 
a disadvantage, for they clung to their medieval traditions. • Their 
tiny realms were often too small to support them, and they fre- 
quently turned to robbery for a living and proved a great nuisance 



Emperor Charles V and his Vast Realms 499 

to the merchants and townspeople whom they were accustomed 
to plunder now and then. 

729. Neighborhood War. It is clear that these states, little 
and big, all tangled up with one another, would be sure to have 
frequent disputes among themselves. The emperor was not power- 
ful enough to keep order, and each ruler had to defend him- 
self if attacked. Neighborhood war was permitted by law if 
only some courteous preliminaries were observed. For instance, 
a prince or town was required to give warning three days in ad- 
vance before attacking another member of the Empire. 

Germany had a national assembly, called the diet, which met 
at irregular intervals, now in one town and now in another, for 
Germany had no capital city. The towns were not permitted to 
send delegates until 1487, long after the townspeople were repre- 
sented in France and England. The restless knights and other 
minor nobles were not represented at all and consequently did 
not always consider the decisions of the diet binding upon them. 

It was this diet that Charles V summoned to meet him on the 
Rhine, in the ancient town of Worms, when he made his first 
visit to Germany in 1520. The most important business of the 
assembly proved to be the consideration of the case of a uni- 
versity professor, Martin Luther, who was accused of writing 
heretical books, and who had begun what proved to be the first 
successful revolt against the powerful Medieval Church. 

QUESTIONS 

I. When and how did the House of Hapsburg become important ? 
What marriages were arranged by Maximilian I which affected the 
history of Europe ? How did Spain become a powerful kingdom ? 
Over what countries did Ferdinand and Isabella rule ? What was the 
extent of Charles V's dominions ? 

II. What were the results of the Italian expedition of Charles VIII ? 
What were the causes of trouble between the French kings and the 
Hapsburgs ? What are your impressions of Francis I ? 

III. Contrast Germany in Charles V's time with the German Empire 
before the World War. Who were the knights ? the electors ? What 
was the German diet ? Why was the emperor unable to maintain order ? 



CHAPTER XXXII 

MARTIN LUTHER AND THE REVOLT OF GERMANY 
AGAINST THE PAPACY 

I. The Question of Reforming the Church : Erasmus 

730. Break-up of the Medieval Church into Catholics and 
Protestants. By far the most important event during the reign 
of Charles V was the revolt of a considerable portion of western 
Europe against the popes. The Medieval Church, which was 
described in a previous chapter, was in this way broken up, and 
Protestant churches appeared in various European countries which 
declared themselves entirely independent of the Pope and rejected 
a number of the religious beliefs which the Church had held 
previously. 

With the exception of England all those countries that lay 
within the ancient bounds of the Roman Empire — Italy, France, 
Spain, Portugal, as well as southern Germany and Austria — 
continued to be faithful to the Pope and the Roman Catholic 
Church. On the other hand, the rulers of the northern German 
states, of England, Holland, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, 
sooner or later became Protestants. In this way Europe was 
divided into two great religious parties, and this led to terrible 
wars and cruel persecutions which fill the annals of the sixteenth 
and seventeenth centuries. 

731. Sources of Discontent with the Church. The revolt be- 
gan in Germany. The Germans, while good Catholics, were sus- 
picious of the popes, whom they regarded as Italians, bent upon 
getting as much money as possible out of the simple people north 
of the Alps. The revenue flowing to the popes from Germany was 
very large. The great German prelates, like the archbishops of 
Mayence, Treves, and Cologne, were each expected to contribute 

500 



The Revolt of Germany against the Papacy 501 

no less than ten thousand gold guldens to the papal treasury upon 
having their election confirmed by the Church authorities at Rome. 
The Pope enjoyed the right to fill many important church offices 
in Germany and frequently appointed Italians, who drew the 
revenue without going to Germany or performing the duties 
attached to the office. One person often held several church offices. 




Fig. 132. Portrait of Erasmus. (By Holbein) 

This wonderful picture by Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1 543) hangs in the 
Louvre gallery at Paris. We have every reason to suppose that it is an excel- 
lent portrait, for Holbein lived in Basel a considerable part of his life and 
knew Erasmus well. The artist was, moreover, celebrated for his skill in 
catching the likeness when depicting the human face. He later painted several 
well-known Englishmen, including Henry VIII and his little son, Edward VI 

(see Fig. 135) 

At first, however, no one thought of withdrawing from the 
Church or of attempting to destroy the power of the Pope. All 
that the Germans wanted was that the money which flowed to- 
ward Rome should be kept at home, and that the clergy should 
be upright, earnest men who should conscientiously perform their 
religious duties. 



502 History of Europe 

732. Erasmus (i465-i536). Among the critic^f the Church 
<>J^* in the early days of Charles V's reign the most famous and in- 
fluential was Erasmus. He was a Dutchman by birth, but spent 
his life in various other countries — France, England, Italy, and 
Germany. He was a citizen of the world and in correspondence 
with literary men everywhere, so that his letters give us an excel- 
lent idea of the feeling of the times. He was greatly interested 
in the Greek and Latin authors, but his main purpose in life 
was to better the Church. He was well aware of the bad reputa- 
tion of many of the clergymen of the time and he especially 
disliked the monks, for when he was a boy he had been forced 
into a monastery, much against his will. 

One of his best-known books was his Praise of Folly, in which 
he held up to ridicule many of the practices and popular beliefs 
which Luther later attacked. He believed that superstition would 
certainly disappear as people became better educated. 

It seemed to Erasmus that if everybody could read the Bible, 
especially the New Testament, for himself, it would bring about 
a great change for the better. He wanted to have the Gospels 
and the letters of Paul translated into the language of the people 
so that men and women who did not know Latin could read them 
and be helped by them. 

Erasmus believed, moreover, that the time was favorable for 
reform. As he looked about him he beheld intelligent rulers on 
the thrones of Europe, men interested in books and art and ready 
to help scholars and writers. There were Henry VIII of England 
and Francis I of France. Then the Pope himself, Leo X, the 
son of Lorenzo the Magniiicent, was a friend and admirer of 
Erasmus and doubtless sympathized with many of his views. 
The youthful Charles V had advisers who believed Erasmus to 
be quite right and were ready to work toward a reform of the 
Church. Charles was a devout Catholic, but he too agreed that 
there were many evils to be remedied. So it seemed to Erasmus 
that the prospects were excellent for a peaceful reform ; but, in- 
stead of its coming, his latter years were embittered by Luther's 
revolt and all the ill-feelings and dissensions that it created. 




AeTHERNA IP^E $VAE mentis SIAYVIACHRA. IVTHEFyS 

ExPMMJTxr wurvs cepa lvcae ocaovos 



Fig. 133. Luther as a Monk. (By Cranach, 1520) 

None of the portraits of Luther are very satisfactory. His friend Cranach was 
not, like Holbein the Younger, a great portrait painter. This cut shows the 
reformer when his revolt against the Church was just beginning. He was 
thirty-seven years old and still in the dress of an Augustinian friar, which he 

soon abandoned 



504 History of Europe 

II. How Martin Luther revolted against the Papacy 

733. Early Years of Luther. Martin Luther was born in 
1483. He was the son of a poor miner, and he often spoke in 
later life of the poverty and superstition in which his boyhood 
was spent. His father, however, was determined that his son 
should be a lawyer, and so Martin was sent to the University of 
Erfurt. After he finished his college course and was about to 
take up the study of the law he had a deep religious experience 
and suddenly decided to become a monk. 

He was much worried about his soul and feared that nothing 
he could do would save him from hell. He finally found comfort 
in the thought that in order to be saved he had only to believe 
sincerely that God would save him, and that he could not pos- 
sibly save himself by trying to be good. He gained the respect 
of the head of the monastery, and when Frederick the Wise of 
Saxony was looking about for teachers for his new university at 
Wittenberg, Luther was recommended as a good person to teach 
Aristotle ; so he became a professor. 

As time went on, Luther began to be suspicious of some of the 
things that were taught in the university. He finally decided that 
Aristotle was after all only an ancient heathen who knew nothing 
about Christianity, and that the students had no business to study 
his works. He urged them to rely instead upon the Bible. 

734. Luther's Idea of Salvation. Luther's main point was 
that man, through Adam's sin, had become so corrupt that he 
could, of himself, do nothing pleasing to God. He could only 
hope to be saved through faith in God's promise to save those 
who should repent. Consequently "good works," such as attend- 
ing church, going on pilgrimages, repeating prayers, and visiting 
relics of the saints, could do nothing for a sinner if he was not 
already "justified by faith"; that is, made acceptable to God 
by his faith in God's promises. If he was "justified," then he 
might properly go about his daily duties, for they would be pleas- 
ing to God without what the Church was accustomed to regard 
as "good works." 



The Revolt oj Germany against the Papacy 505 

Luther's teachings did not attract much attention until the 
year 151 7, when he was thirty- four years old. Then something 
occurred to give him considerable prominence. 

7^^ Indulgences. The fact has already been mentioned that 
the popes had undertaken the rebuilding of St. Peter's, the great 
central church of Christendom (§670). The cost of the enter- 
prise was very great, and in order to collect contributions for the 
purpose Pope Leo X arranged for an extensive distribution of 
indulgences in Germany. 

In order to understand the nature of indulgences and Luther's 
opposition to them, we must consider the teaching of the Catholic 
Church in regard to the forgiveness of sin. The Church taught 
that if one died after committing a serious ("mortal") sin 
which he had not repented and confessed, his soul would cer- 
tainly be lost. If he sincerely repented and confessed his sin 
to a priest, God would forgive him and his soul would be saved, 
but he would not thereby escape punishment. This punishment 
might consist in fasting, saying certain prayers, going on a pil- 
grimage, or doing some other good work. It was assumed, 
however, that most men committed so many sins that even if 
they died repentant they had to pass through a long period in 
purgatory, where they would be purified by suffering before 
they could enter heaven. 

Now an indulgence was a pardon, issued usually by the Pope 
himself, which freed the person to whom it was granted jrom 
a part or all of his suffering in purgatory. It did not forgive 
his sins or in any way take the place of true repentance and 
confession ; it only reduced the punishment which a truly contrite 
sinner would otherwise have had to endure, either in this world 
or in purgatory, before he could be admitted to heaven.^ 

The contribution to the Church which was made in return 
for indulgences varied greatly ; the rich were required to give a 

1 It is a common mistake of Protestants to suppose that the indulgence was forgive- 
ness granted beforehand for sins to be committed in the future. There is absolutely no 
foundation for this idea. A person proposing to sin could not possibly be contrite in the 
eyes of the Church, and even if he had secured an indulgence it would, according to 
the theologians, have been quite worthless. 



5o6 History of Europe 

considerable sum, while the very poor were to receive these 
pardons gratis. The representatives of the Pope were naturally 
anxious to collect all the money possible and did their best to 
induce everyone to secure an indulgence, either for himself or for 
his deceased friends in purgatory. In their zeal they made many 
claims for the indulgences, to which no thoughtful churchman or 
even layman could listen without misgivings. 

736. Luther's Theses on Indulgences. In October, 151 7, Tet- 
zel, a Dominican monk, began announcing indulgences in the 
neighborhood of Wittenberg and making claims for them which 
appeared to Luther wholly irreconcilable with Christianity as he 
understood it. He therefore, in accordance with the custom of the 
time, wrote out a series of ninety-five statements in regard to 
indulgences. These theses, as they were called, he posted on the 
church door and invited anyone interested in the matter to enter 
into a discussion with him on the subject, which he believed was 
very ill understood. 

In posting these theses, Luther did not intend to attack the 
Church and had no expectation of creating a sensation. The 
theses were in Latin and addressed, therefore, only to learned 
men. It turned out, however, that everyone, high and low, learned 
and unlearned, was ready to discuss the nature of indulgences. 

The theses were promptly translated into German, printed, and 
scattered abroad throughout the land. In these Ninety-five Theses 
Luther declared that the indulgence was very unimportant and 
that the poor man would better spend his money for the needs 
of his household. The truly repentant, he argued, do not flee 
punishment, but bear it willingly in sign of their sorrow. Faith 
in God, not the procuring of pardons, brings forgiveness, and 
every Christian who feels true sorrow for his sins will receive full 
remission of the punishment as well as of the guilt. Could the 
Pope know how his agents misled the people, he would rather have 
St. Peter's burn to ashes than build it up with money gained 
under false pretenses. Then, Luther adds, there is danger that the 
common man will ask awkward questions. For example, " If the 
Pope releases souls from purgatory for money, why not for 



The Revolt of Germany against the Papacy 507 

charity's sake ? " or, " Since the Pope is rich as Croesus, why does 
he not build St. Peter's with his own money, instead of taking 
that of the poor man ? " 

737. Luther becomes Suspicious of the Papacy. Luther now 
began to read church history and reached the conclusion that the 
influence of the popes had not been very great until the times 
of Gregory VII (§§ 591-593), and therefore that they had not 
enjoyed their supremacy over the Church for more than four 
hundred years before his own birth. He was mistaken in this 
conclusion, but he had hit upon an argument that has been con- 
stantly urged by Protestants ever since. They assert that the 
power of the Medieval Church and of the papacy developed 
gradually and that the apostles knew nothing of Masses, indul- 
gences, pilgrimages, purgatory, or the headship of the bishop of 
Rome. 

The publication of Luther's theses brought him many sympa- 
thizers in Germany. Some were attracted by his protests against 
the ways in which the popes raised money, and others liked him 
for attacking Aristotle and the scholastic theologians. Erasmus' 
publisher at Basel agreed to publish Luther's books, of which 
he sent copies to Italy, France, England, and Spain, and in this 
way the Wittenberg monk began before long to be widely known 
outside of Germany as well as within it. 

738. Contrast between Luther and Erasmus. But Erasmus 
himself, the mighty sovereign of the men of letters, refused to 
take sides in the controversy. Luther, he urged, would better be 
discreet and trust that as mankind became more intelligent they 

'would outgrow their false ideas. 

To Erasmus, man was capable of progress ; cultivate him and 
extend his knowledge, and he would grow better and better. To 
Luther, on the other hand, man was utterly corrupt and inca- 
pable of a single righteous wish or deed. His will was enslaved to 
evil, and his only hope lay in the recognition of his absolute 
inability to better himself and in a humble reliance upon God's 
mercy. Only by jaith and not by doing good works could he 
be saved. 



5o8 History oj Europe 

Erasmus and many other thoughtful people of the time were 
willing to wait until everyone agreed that the Church should be 
reformed. Luther had no patience with an institution which 
seemed to him to be leading souls to destruction by inducing 
men to rely upon their good works. Erasmus declared that 
Luther, by scorning good works, had made his followers indif- 
ferent to their conduct, and that those who accepted Luther's 
teachings straightway became pert, rude fellows, who would not 
any longer take off their hats to him on the street. 

739. Luther's Address to the German Nobility. By 1520 
Luther, who gave way at times to his naturally violent disposition, 
had become threatening and abusive and suggested that the Ger- 
man rulers should punish the churchmen and force them to reform 
their conduct. "We punish thieves with the gallows, bandits 
with the sword, heretics with iire ; why should we not, with far 
greater propriety, attack with every kind of weapon these very 
masters of perdition, the cardinals and popes ? " 

Of Luther's popular pamphlets, the first really famous one 
was his Address to the German Nobility, in which he calls upon 
the rulers of Germany, especially the knights, to reform the 
abuses themselves, since he believed that it was vain to wait 
for the Church to do so. He explains that there are three walls 
behind which the papacy had been wont to take refuge when 
anyone proposed to remedy its abuses. There was, first, the 
claim that the clergy formed a separate class, superior even to 
the civil rulers, who were not permitted to punish a churchman, 
no matter how bad he was. Secondly, the Pope claimed to be 
superior even to the great general assemblies of the Church, called 
councils, so that even the representatives of the Church itself 
might not correct him. And, lastly, the Pope assumed the sole 
right, when questions of belief arose, to interpret with authority 
the meaning of the Scriptures ; consequently he could not be re- 
futed by arguments from the Bible (§ 592). 

Luther undertook to cast down these defenses by denying, to 
begin with, that there was anything especially sacred about a 
clergyman except the duties which he had been designated to 



The Revolt oj Germany against the Papacy 509 

perform. If he did not attend to his work, it should be possible 
to deprive him of his office at any moment, just as one would 
turn off an incompetent tailor or farmer, and in that case he 
should become a simple layman again. Luther claimed, more- 
over, that it was the right and duty of the rulers to punish a 
churchman who did wrong just as if he were the humblest layman. 

The Address to the German Nobility closed with a long list 
of evils which must be done away with before Germany could 
become prosperous. Luther saw that his view of religion really 
implied a social revolution. He advocated reducing the monas- 
teries to a tenth of their number and permitting those monks 
who were disappointed in the good they got from living in them 
freely to leave. He pointed out the evils of pilgrimages and of 
the numerous church holidays, which interfered with daily work. 
The clergy, he urged, should be permitted to marry and have fam- 
ilies like other citizens. The universities should be reformed, and 
" the accursed heathen, Aristotle," should be cast out from them. 

740. Luther Excommunicated. Luther had long expected to 
be excommunicated. But it was not until late in 1520 that John 
Eck, a personal enemy of his, arrived in Germany with a papal bull 
condemning many of Luther's assertions as heretical and giving 
him sixty days in which to recant. Should he fail to return to his 
senses within that time, he and all who adhered to or favored him 
were to be excommunicated, and any place which harbored him 
should fall under the interdict (§623). Now, since the highest 
power in Christendom had pronounced Luther a heretic, he should 
unhesitatingly have been delivered up by the German authorities. 
But no one thought of arresting him. 

The bull irritated the German princes ; whether they liked 
Luther or not, they decidedly disliked to have the Pope issuing 
commands to them. Then it appeared to them very unfair that 
Luther's personal enemy should have been intrusted with the 
publication of the bull. Even the princes and universities that 
were most friendly to the Pope published the bull with great 
reluctance. In many cases the bull was ignored altogether. 
Luther's own sovereign, the elector of Saxony, while no convert 



510 History of Europe 

to the new views, was anxious that Luther's case should be fairly 
considered, and he continued to protect him. One mighty prince, 
however, the young Emperor Charles V, promptly and willingly 
published the bull ; not, however, as emperor, but as ruler of 
the Austrian dominions and of the Netherlands. 

741. Luther burns the Pope's Bull (1520). The Wittenberg 
professor felt himself compelled to oppose himself to both Pope 
and emperor. " Hard it is," he exclaimed, " to be forced to con- 
tradict all the prelates and princes, but there is no other way to 
escape hell and God's anger." Late in 1520 he summoned his 
students to witness what he called ''a pious religious spectacle." 
He had a fire built outside the walls of Wittenberg and cast into 
it Leo X's bull condemning him, and a copy of the Laws of the 
Church, together with a volume of scholastic theology which he 
specially disliked. 

Yet Luther dreaded disorder. He was certainly sometimes 
reckless and violent in his writings and often said that bloodshed 
could not be avoided. Yet he always opposed hasty reform. He 
was reluctant to make changes, except in belief. He held that 
so long as an institution did not actually mislead, it did no 
harm. He was, in short, no fanatic at heart. 

IIL The Diet at Worms (1520-1521) 

742. Charles V's "Want of Sympathy with the German Re- 
formers. The Pope's chief representative in Germany, named 
Aleander, wrote as follows to Leo X about this time : " I am 
pretty familiar with the history of this German nation. I know 
their past heresies, councils, and schisms, but never were affairs 
so serious before. Compared with present conditions, the struggle 
between Henry IV and Gregory VII was as violets and roses. 
. . . Nine tenths of the Germans are shouting 'Luther,' and the 
other tenth goes so far at least as 'Death to the Roman curia.'" 

Among the enemies of Luther and his supporters none was 
more important than the young emperor. It was toward the 
end of the year 1520 that Charles came to Germany for the first 



The Revolt oj Germany against the Papacy 511 

time (§ 729). After being crowned King of the Romans at 
Aix-la-Chapelle he assumed, with the Pope's consent, the title 
of emperor elect as his grandfather Maximilian had done. He 
then moved on to the town of Worms, where he was to hold his 
first diet and face the German situation. 

Although scarcely more than a boy in years, Charles had 
already begun to take life very seriously. He had decided that 
Spain, not Germany, was to be the bulwark and citadel of all his 
realms. Like the more enlightened of his Spanish subjects he 
realized the need of reforming the Church, but he had no sym- 
pathy whatever with any change of religious belief. He proposed 
to live and die a devout Catholic of the old type, such as his 
orthodox ancestors had been. 

743. Luther summoned to the Diet at Worms. Upon ar- 
riving at Worms the case of Luther was at once forced upon 
Charles's attention by Aleander, the papal representative, who 
exhorted him to outlaw the heretic without further delay. While 
Charles seemed convinced of Luther's guilt, he could not proceed 
against him without serious danger. The monk had become a sort 
of national hero and had the support of the powerful elector of 
Saxony. Other princes, who had ordinarily no wish to protect 
a heretic, felt that Luther's denunciation of the evils in the Church 
and of the actions of the Pope was very gratifying. After much 
discussion it was finally arranged, to the great disgust of the 
zealous Aleander, that Luther should be summoned to Worms 
and be given an opportunity to face the German nation and 
the emperor, and to declare plainly whether he was the author 
of the heretical books ascribed to him, and whether he still 
adhered to the doctrines which the Pope had condemned. 

The emperor accordingly wrote the " honorable and respected " 
Luther a very polite letter, desiring him to appear at Worms 
and granting him a safe-conduct thither. 

It was not, however, proposed to give Luther an opportunity 
to defend his beliefs before the diet. When he appeared he was 
simply asked if a pile of his Latin and German' works were really 
his, and, if so, whether he revoked what he had said in them. 



512 History of Europe 

To the first question the monk replied in a low voice that he had 
written these and more. As to the second question, he asked that 
he might have a little while to consider. 

The following day, in a Latin address which he repeated in 
German, he admitted that he had been overviolent in his attacks 
upon his opponents. But he said that he believed no one could 
deny that the Pope's decrees had often gone against the conscience 
of good Christians and that the German people had been robbed 
by the abuses of Church power. If, however, adequate arguments 
against his position could be found in the Scriptures, he said 
he would gladly and willingly recant. 

744. The Edict of Worms (1521). There was now nothing 
for the emperor to do but to outlaw Luther, who had denied the 
binding character of the commands of the head of the Church. 
Aleander was accordingly assigned the agreeable duty of drafting 
the famous Edict of Worms. 

This document declared Luther an outlaw on the following 
grounds : that he scorned and villified the Pope, despised the 
priesthood and stirred up the laity to dip their hands in the blood 
of the clergy, denied free will, taught licentiousness, despised au- 
thority, advocated a brutish existence, and was a menace to Church 
and State alike. Everyone was forbidden to give the heretic food, 
drink, or shelter, and was required to seize him and deliver him 
to the emperor. 

Moreover, the decree provides that " no one shall dare to buy, 
sell, read, preserve, copy, print, or cause to be copied or printed, 
any books of the aforesaid Martin Luther, condemned by our 
holy father the Pope, as aforesaid, or any other writings in Ger- 
man or Latin hitherto composed by him, since they are foul, 
noxious, suspected, and published by a notorious and stiff-necked 
heretic." 

So general was the disapproval of the edict that few were 
willing to pay any attention to it. Charles V immediately left 
Germany and for nearly ten years was occupied outside it with 
the government of Spain and a succession of wars. 



The Revolt of Germany against the Papacy 513 

IV. The Revolt against the Papacy begins in Germany 

745. Luther begins a New Translation of the Bible. As 
Luther neared Eisenach upon his way home from Worms he was 
kidnaped by his friends and conducted to the Wartburg, a castle 
belonging to the elector of Saxony. Here he was concealed until 
any danger from the action of the emperor or diet should pass 
by. His chief occupation during several months of hiding was to 
begin a new translation of the Bible into German. He had finished 
the New Testament before he left the Wartburg in March, 1522. 

Up to this time German editions of the Scriptures, while not 
uncommon, had been poor and obscure. Luther's task was a 
difficult one. He was anxious above all that the Bible should 
be put into language that would seem perfectly clear and natural 
to the common folk. So he went about asking the mothers and 
children and the laborers questions which might draw out the 
expression that he was looking for. 

746. Pamphlets and Satires. Previous to 15 18 there had been 
very few books or pamphlets printed in German. The translation 
of the Bible into language so simple that even the unlearned might 
read it was only one of the signs of a general effort to awaken the 
minds of the common people. 

Hundreds of pamphlets, satires, and cartoons have come down 
to us which indicate that the religious and other questions of the 
day were often treated in somewhat the same spirit in which our 
comic papers deal with political problems and discussions now. 

747. The Revolt Begins. Hitherto there had been a great 
deal of talk of reform, but as yet nothing had actually been 
done. There was no sharp line drawn between the different 
classes of reformers. All agreed that something should be done 
to better the Church ; few realized how divergent were the real 
ends in view. The rulers listened to Luther because they were 
glad of an excuse to get control of the church property and keep 
money from flowing to Rome. The peasants listened because he 
put the Bible into their hands and they found nothing there that 
proved that they ought to go on paying the old dues to their lords. 



514 History of Europe 

While Luther was quietly living in the Wartburg, translating 
the Bible, people began to put his teachings into practice. The 
monks and nuns left their monasteries in his own town of Witten- 
berg. Some of them married, which seemed a very wicked thing 
to all those that held to the old beliefs. The students and citizens 
tore down the images of the saints in the churches and even went 
so far as to oppose the celebration of the Mass, the chief Catholic 
ceremony. 

Luther was greatly troubled by news of this disorderly reform. 
He did not approve of sudden and violent changes and left his 
hiding place to protest. He preached a series of sermons in 
Wittenberg in which he urged that all alterations in religious 
services and practices should be introduced by the government 
and not by the people. But his advice was not heeded. 

748. The Peasant War. The conservative party, who were, 
frankly afraid of Luther, received a terrible proof, as it seemed 
to them, of the noxious influence of his teachings. In 1525 the 
serfs rose, in the name of " God's justice," to avenge their wrongs. 
Luther was not responsible for the civil war which followed, 
though he had certainly helped to stir up discontent. He had 
asserted, for example, that the German feudal lords were hang- 
men, who 10ffew only how to swindle the poor man. " Such fellows 
were formerly called rascals, but now must we call them ' Christian 
and revered princes.' " Yet in spite of his harsh talk about the 
princes, Luther really relied upon them to forward his movement, 
and he justly claimed that he had greatly increased their 
power by attacking the authority of the Pope and subjecting the 
clergy in all things to the government. 

Y49. The "Twelve Articles." Some of the demands of the 
peasants were perfectly reasonable. The most popular expression 
of their needs was the dignified " Twelve Articles." In these 
they claimed that the Bible did not sanction any of the dues which 
the lords demanded of them, and that, since they were Christians 
like their lords, they should no longer be held as serfs. They 
were willing to pay all the old and well-established dues, but they 
asked to be properly remunerated for extra services demanded by 



The Revolt of Germany against the Papacy 515 

the lord. They thought too that each community should have the 
right freely to choose its own pastor and to dismiss him if he 
proved negligent or inefficient. 

There were, however, leaders who were more violent and who 
proposed to kill the "godless" priests and nobles. Hundreds of 
castles and monasteries were destroyed by the frantic peasantry, 
and some of the nobility were murdered with shocking cruelty. 
Luther tried to induce the peasants, with whom, as the son of 
a peasant, he was at first inclined to sympathize, to remain quiet ; 
but when his warnings proved vain he turned against them. He 
declared that they were guilty of the most fearful crimes and 
urged the government to put down the insurrection without pity. 

750. The Peasant Revolt put down with Great Cruelty. 
Luther's advice was followed with terrible literalness by the 
German rulers, and the nobility took fearful revenge on the 
peasants. In the summer of 1525 their chief leader was defeated 
and killed, and it is estimated that ten thousand peasants were 
put to death, many with the utmost cruelty. Few of the rulers or 
landlords introduced any reforms, and the misfortunes due to the 
destruction of property and to the despair of the peasants cannot 
be imagined. The people concluded that the new gospel was not 
for them, and talked of Luther as "Dr. Lugner"; that is, liar. 
The old exactions of the lords of the manors were in no way 
lightened, and the situation of the serfs for centuries following 
the great revolt was worse rather than better. 

V. Division of Germany into Catholic and Protestant 

Countries 

75L Religious Division of North and South Germany. 
Charles V was occupied at this time by his quarrels with Francis I 
(§ 726) and was in no position to return to Germany and under- 
take to enforce the Edict of Worms against Luther and his fol- 
lowers. Germany, as we have seen, was divided into hundreds 
of practically independent countries, and the various electors, 
princes, towns, and knights naturally could not agree as to what 



5i6 History of Europe 

would best be done in the matter of reforming the Church. It 
became apparent not long after the Peasant War that some of 
the rulers were going to accept Luther's idea that they need no 
longer obey the Pope but that they were free to proceed to regulate 
the property and affairs of the churchmen in their domains with- 
out regard to the Pope's wishes. Other princes and towns agreed 
that they would remain faithful to the Pope if certain reforms 
were introduced, especially if the papal taxation were reduced. 
Southern Germany decided for the Pope and remains Catholic 
down to the present day. Many of the northern rulers, on the 
other hand, adopted the new teachings, and finally all of them 
fell away from the papacy and became Protestant. 

Since there was no one powerful enough to decide the great 
question for the whole of Germany, the diet which met at Speyer 
in 1526 determined that pending the summoning of a church 
council each ruler should "so live, reign, and conduct himself as 
he would be willing to answer before God and His Imperial 
Majesty." For the moment, then, the various German govern- 
ments were left to determine the religion of their subjects. 

752. Origin of the Term " Protestants." The emperor, find- 
ing himself again free for a time to attend to German affairs, com- 
manded the diet, which again met at Speyer in 1529, to order 
the enforcement of the Edict of Worms against the heretics. 

The princes and towns that had accepted Luther's ideas drew 
up 2i' protest, in which they claimed that the majority had no right 
to abrogate the edict of the former diet of Speyer, which had 
been passed unanimously, and which all had solemnly pledged 
themselves to observe. Those who signed this appeal were called 
from their action Protestants. Thus originated the name which 
came to be generally applied to those who do not accept the rule 
and teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. 

753. Diet at Augsburg and the Augsburg Confession. Ever 
since the diet at Worms the emperor had resided in Spain, 
busied with a succession of wars carried on with the king of 
France. But in 1530 the emperor found himself at peace for the 
moment and came to Germany to hold a brilliant diet of his 



The Revolt of Germany against the Papacy 517 

German subjects at Augsburg in the hope of settling the religious 
problem, which, however, he understood very imperfectly. He 
ordered the Protestants to draw up a statement of exactly what 
they believed, which should serve as a basis for discussion. 
Melanchthon, Luther's most famous friend and colleague, who 
was noted for his great learning and moderation, was intrusted 
with this delicate task. 

The Augsburg Confession, as his declaration was called, is 
a historical document of great importance for the student of 
the Protestant revolt.^ Melanchthon's gentle disposition led him 
to make the differences between his belief and that of the old 
Church seem as few and slight as possible. He showed that both 
parties held the same fundamental views of Christianity. But 
he defended the Protestants' rejection of a number of the prac- 
tices of the Roman Catholics, such as the celibacy of the clergy 
and the observance of fast days. There was little or nothing in the 
Augsburg Confession concerning the organization of the Church. 

754. Charles V's Attempt at Pacification. Certain theologians 
who had been loud in their denunciations of Luther were ordered 
by the emperor to prepare a refutation of the Protestant views. 
The statement of the Catholics admitted that a number of 
Melanchthon's positions were perfectly orthodox ; but the portion 
of the Augsburg Confession which dealt with the practical reforms 
introduced by the Protestants was rejected altogether. 

Charles V declared the Catholic statement to be '' Christian 
*and judicious" and commanded the Protestants to accept it. 
They were to cease troubling the Catholics and were to give 
back all the monasteries and church property which they had 
seized. The emperor agreed, however, to urge the Pope to call 
a council to meet within a year. This, he hoped, would be able 
to settle all differences and reform the Church according to the 
views of the Catholics. 

755. The Peace of Augsburg. For ten years after the em- 
peror left Augsburg he was kept busy in southern Europe by 

1 It is still accepted as the creed of the Lutheran Church. Inexpensive copies of it 
in English may be procured from the Lutheran Publication Society, Philadelphia. 



5i8 History of Europe 

new wars ; and in order to secure the assistance of the Protes- 
tants he was forced to let them go their own way. Meanwhile 
the number of rulers who accepted Luther's teachings gradually 
increased. Finally there was a brief war between Charles and 
the Protestant princes, but there was little lighting done. Charles V 
brought his Spanish soldiers into Germany and captured both 
John Frederick of Saxony and his ally, Philip of Hesse, the chief 
leaders of the Lutheran cause, whom he kept prisoners for several 
years. Luther himself died in 1546. 

These events did not, however, check the progress of the Protes- 
tants. The king of France, although he was persecuting heretics 
at home, promised them help against his enemy, the emperor, 
and Charles was forced to agree to a peace with the Protestants. 

In 1555 the religious Peace of Augsburg was ratified. Its 
provisions are memorable. Each German prince and each town 
and knight directly under the emperor was to be at liberty 
to make a choice between the beliefs of the venerable Catholic 
Church and those embodied in the Augsburg Confession. If, 
however, an ecclesiastical prince — an archbishop, bishop, or abbot 
— declared himself a Protestant, he must surrender his possessions 
to the Church. Every German was either to conform to the re- 
ligious practices of his particular state or emigrate from it. Every- 
one was supposed to be either a Catholic or a Lutheran, and no 
provision was made for any other belief. 

This religious peace in no way established freedom of con- 
science, except for the rulers. Their power, it must be noted, 
was greatly increased, inasmuch as they were given the control 
of religious as well as of secular matters. This arrangement 
which permitted the ruler to determine the religion of his realm 
was more natural in those days than it would be in ours. The 
Church and the civil government had been closely associated with 
one another for centuries. No one as yet dreamed that every in- 
dividual might safely be left quite free to believe what he would 
and to practice any religious rites which afforded him help and 
comfort. 



The Revolt of Germar^y against the Papacy 519 

QUESTIONS 

I. What were the sources of discontent with the Church in Ger- 
many ? What were the views of Erasmus in regard to church reform ? 

II. Tell something of Luther's life before he posted up his theses. 
What was an indulgence ? Give some of Luther's views expressed in 
his Ninety-five Theses. Contrast the opinions of Erasmus and Luther. 
Discuss Luther's Address to the German Nobility. Why was Luther 
excommunicated ? What was the fate of the papal bull directed 
against him ? 

III. Why did Charles V summon Luther at Worms ? What did 
Luther say to the diet ? What were the chief provisions of the Edict 
of Worms ? 

IV. Describe Luther's translation of the Bible. What was the state 
of public opinion in Germany after the diet at Worms ? What was 
Luther's attitude toward reform ? Why did the German peasants 
revolt ? What did the Twelve Articles contain ? What effect did the 
Peasant Revolt have on Luther ? 

V. What was the origin of the term " Protestant " ? What was 
the Augsburg Confession ? What were the results of the diet of 
Augsburg ? What was the policy of Charles V in regard to the 
Protestants ? What were the chief provisions of the Peace of 
Augsburg ? 



CHAPTER XXXIII 

THE PROTESTANT REVOLT IN SWITZERLAND AND 

ENGLAND 

I. ZwiNGLi AND Calvin 

756. Origin of the Swiss Confederation. For at least a cen- 
tury after Luther's death the great issue between Catholics and 
Protestants dominates the history of all the countries with which 
we have to do, except Italy and Spain, where Protestantism never 
took permanent root. In Switzerland, England, France, and Hol- 
land the revolt against the Medieval Church produced discord, 
wars, and profound changes, which must be understood in order 
to follow the later development of these countries. 

We turn first to Switzerland, lying in the midst of the great 
chain of the Alps which extends from the Mediterranean to 
Vienna. During the Middle Ages the region destined to be 
included in the Swiss Confederation formed a part of the Holy 
Roman Empire and was scarcely distinguishable from the rest 
of southern Germany. As early as the thirteenth century the 
three " forest " cantons on the shores of the winding Lake of 
Lucern formed a union to protect their liberties against the 
encroachments of their neighbors, the Hapsburgs (§715). It 
was about this tiny nucleus that Switzerland gradually consoli- 
dated. Lucern and the free towns of Zurich and Bern soon 
joined the Swiss league. By brave fighting the Swiss were able to 
frustrate the renewed efforts of the Hapsburgs to subjugate them. 

Various districts in the neighborhood joined the Swiss union 
in succession, and even the region lying on the Italian slopes of 
the Alps was brought under its control. Gradually the bonds 
between the members of the Swiss union and the Empire were 
broken. In 1499 they were finally freed from the jurisdiction of 



Protestant Revolt in Switzerland and England 521 

the emperor, and Switzerland became a practically independent 
country. Although the original union had been made up of 
German-speaking people, considerable districts had been annexed 
in which Italian or French was spoken.^ The Swiss did not, 




The Swiss Confederation in the Sixteenth Century ■ 

therefore, form a compact, well-defined nation, and consequently 
for some centuries their confederation was weak and ill-organized. 
757. Zwingli leads Revolt against the Old Church. In 
Switzerland the first leader of the revolt against the Church 
was a young priest named Zwingli, who was a year younger than 
Luther. He lived in the famous monastery of Einsiedeln, near 



1 This condition has not changed ; all Swiss laws are still proclaimed in three 
languages. 



522 History of Europe 

the Lake of Zurich, which was the center of pilgrimages on ac- 
count of a wonder-working image. " Here," he says, " I began to 
preach the Gospel of Christ in the year 1516, before anyone in 
my locality had so much as heard the name of Luther." 

Three years later he was called to an influential position as 
preacher in the cathedral of Zurich, and there his great work 
really commenced. He then began to denounce the abuses in the 
Church as well as the shameless traffic in soldiers, which he had 
long regarded as a blot upon his country's honor.^ 

But the original cantons about the Lake of Lucern, which 
feared that they might lose the great influence that, in spite of 
their small size, they had hitherto enjoyed, were ready to fight 
for the old faith. The first armed collision between the Swiss 
Protestants and Catholics took place at Kappel in 1531, and 
Zwingli fell in the battle. The various cantons and towns never 
came to an agreement in religious matters, and Switzerland is still 
part Catholic and part Protestant. • 

758. Calvin (i509-i564) and the Presbyterian Church. Far 
more important than Zwingli 's teachings, especially for England 
and America, was the work of Calvin, which was carried oii in 
the ancient city of Geneva, on the very outskirts of the Swiss 
Confederation. It was Calvin who organized the Presbyterian 
Church and formulated its beliefs. He was born in northern 
France in 1 509 ; he belonged, therefore, to the second generation 
of Protestants. He was early influenced by the Lutheran teach- 
ings, which had already found their way into France. A perse- 
cution of the Protestants under Francis I drove him out of the 
country, and he settled for a time in Basel. 

Here he issued the first edition of his great work. The Insti- 
tute of Christianity, which has been more widely discussed than 
any other Protestant theological treatise. It was the first orderly 
exposition of the principles of Christianity from a Protestant 

1 Switzerland had made a business, ever since the time when Charles VIII of France 
invaded Italy, of supplying troops of mercenaries to fight for other countries, especially 
for France and the Pope. It was the Swiss who gained the battle of Marignano for 
Francis I (§ 725), and Swiss guards may still be seen in the Pope's palace, the Vatican." 



Protestant Revolt in Switzerland and England 523 

standpoint and formed a convenient manual for study and dis- 
cussion. The Institute is based upon the infallibility of the Bible 
and rejects the infallibility of the Church and the Pope. Calvin 
possessed a remarkably logical mind and a clear and admirable 
style. The French version of his great work is the first example 
of the successful use of that language in an argumentative treatise. 
Calvin was called to Geneva about 1540 and intrusted with 
the task of reforming the town, which had secured its independ- 
ence of the duke of Savoy. Calvin intrusted the management of 
church affairs to the ministers and the elders, or presbyters ; 
hence the name " Presbyterian." The Protestantism which found 
its way into France was that of Calvin, not that of Luther, and 
the same may be said of Scotland (see below, §§ 798-799). 

II. How England fell away from the Papacy 

759. Erasmus in England ; More's Utopia. When Erasmus 
(§ 732) came to England about the year 1500 he was delighted 
with the people he met there. Henry VII was still alive. It will be 
remembered that it was he that brought order into England after 
the Wars of the Roses (§578). His son, who was to become the 
famous Henry VIII, impressed Erasmus as a very promising boy. 
We may assume that the intelligent men whom Erasmus met in 
England agreed with him in regard to the situation in the Church 
and the necessity of reform. He was a good friend of Sir Thomas 
More, who is best known for his little book called Utopia, which 
means "Nowhere." In it More pictures the happy conditions 
in an undiscovered land where the government was perfect and 
all .the evils that he saw about him were done away. 

760. Wolsey's Idea of the Balance of Power. Henry VIII 
came to the English throne when he was eighteen years old. His 
chief adviser, Cardinal Wolsey, deserves great credit for having 
constantly striven to discourage his sovereign's ambition to take 
part in the wars on the Continent. The cardinal's argument that 
England could become great by peace better than by war was a 
momentous discovery. Peace he felt would be best secured by 



524 



History of Europe 



maintaining the balance of power on the Continent, so that no 
ruler should become dangerous by unduly extending his sway. 
For example, he thought it good policy to side with Charles V 
when Francis I was successful, and then with Francis after his 
terrible defeat at Pavia (1525) when he fell into the hands of 
Charles. This idea of the balance of power came to be recognized 
later by the European countries as a very important consideration 







Fig. 134. Henry VIII 

in determining their policy. But Wolsey was not long to be per- 
mitted to put his enlightened ideas into practice. His fall and the 
progress of Protestantism in England are both closely associated 
with the notorious divorce case of Henry VIH. 

761. Henry VIII's Divorce Case. Henry had married Cath- 
erine of Aragon, the aunt of Charles V. Only one of their children, 
Mary, survived to grow up. As time went on, Henry was very 
anxious to have a son and heir, for he was fearful lest a woman 
might not be permitted to succeed to the throne. Moreover, he 
had tired of Catherine, who was considerably older than he. 



Protestant Revolt in Switzerland and England 525 

Catherine had first married Henry's older brother, who had 
died almost immediately after the marriage. Since it was a vio- 
lation of the rule of the Church to marry a deceased brother's 
wife, Henry professed to fear that he was committing a sin by 
retaining Catherine as his wife and demanded to be divorced from 
her on the ground that his marriage had never been legal. His 
anxiety to rid himself of Catherine was greatly increased by the 
appearance at court of a black-eyed girl of sixteen, named Anne 
Boleyn, with whom the king fell in love. 

Unfortunately for his case, his marriage with Catherine had 
been authorized by a dispensation from the Pope, so that 
Clement VII, to whom the king appealed to annul the marriage, 
could not, even if he had been willing to run the risk of angering 
the queen's nephew, Charles V, have granted Henry's request. 

Wolsey's failure to induce the Pope to permit the divorce ex- 
cited the king's anger, and with rank ingratitude for his minister's 
great services Henry drove him from office (1529) and seized 
his property. From a life of wealth which was fairly royal, Wolsey 
was precipitated into extreme poverty and soon died. 

Henry induced Parliament to cut off some of the Pope's revenue 
from England ; but, as this did not bring Clement VII to terms, 
Henry lost patience and secretly married Anne Boleyn, relying 
on getting a divorce from Catherine later. 

He then summoned an English church court which declared 
his marriage with Catherine null and void. He had persuaded 
Parliament to make a law providing that all lawsuits should be 
definitely decided within the realm and in this way cut off the 
possibility of the queen's appealing to the Pope (§618). 

Parliament, which did whatever Henry VIII asked, also de- 
clared Henry's marriage with Catherine unlawful and that with 
Anne Boleyn legal. Consequently it was decreed that Anne's 
daughter, Elizabeth, born in 1533, was to succeed her father on 
the English throne instead of Mary, the daughter of Catherine. 

762. How Henry VIII threw off the Papal Authority. In 
1534 the English Parliament completed the revolt of the English 
Church from the Pope by assigning to the king the right to appoint 



526 History of Europe 

all the English prelates and to enjoy all the income which had 
formerly found its way to Rome. In the Act of Supremacy, Par- 
liament declared the king to be " the only supreme head in earth 
of the Church of England," and that he should enjoy all the 
powers which the title naturally carried with it. 

Two years later every officer in the kingdom was required to 
swear to renounce the authority of the bishop of Rome. Refusal 
to take this oath was to be adjudged high treason. Many were 
unwilling to deny the Pope's headship merely because king and 
Parliament renounced it, and this legislation led to a persecution 
in the name of treason against the king which was even more 
horrible than that which had been carried on in the name of 
religion. 

763. Henry VIII no Protestant. It must be carefully ob- 
served that Henry VIII was not a Protestant in the Lutheran 
sense of the word. He was led, it is true, by Clement VII's 
refusal to declare his first marriage illegal, to break the bond 
between the English and the Roman Church and to induce the 
English clergy and Parliament to acknowledge the king as su- 
preme head in the religious as well as in the worldly interests 
of the country. Important as this was, it did not lead Henry to 
accept the teachings of Protestant leaders, like Luther, Zwingli, 
or Calvin. 

Henry was anxious to prove that he was orthodox, especially 
after he had seized the property of the monasteries and the gold 
and jewels which adorned the receptacles in which the relics 
of the saints were kept. He presided in person over the trial of 
one who accepted the opinions of Zwingli, and he quoted Scripture 
to prove the contrary. The prisoner was condemned and burned 
as a heretic. Henry also authorized a new translation of the 
Bible into English. A fine edition of this was printed (1539), 
and every parish was ordered to obtain a copy and place it in the 
parish church, where all the people could readily make use of it. 

764. Henry*s Tyranny. Henry VIII was heartless and des- 
potic. With a barbarity not uncommon in those days he allowed 
his old friend and adviser. Sir Thomas More, to be beheaded for 



Protestant Revolt in Switzerland and England 527 

refusing to pronounce the marriage with Catherine void. He 
caused numbers of monks to be executed for refusing to swear 
that his first marriage was illegal and for denying his title to 
supremacy in the Church. Others he permitted to die of starva- 
tion and disease in the filthy prisons of the time. 

765. Dissolution of the English Monasteries. Henry wanted 
money ; some of the English abbeys were rich, and the monks 
were quite unable to defend themselves against the charges which 
were brought against them. The king sent commissioners about 
to inquire into the state of the monasteries. A large number of 
scandalous tales were easily collected, some of which were un- 
doubtedly true. The monks were doubtless often indolent and 
sometimes wicked. Nevertheless they were kind landlords, hos- 
pitable to the stranger, and good to the poor. 

The royal commissioners took possession of the monasteries and 
sold every article upon which they could lay hands, including the 
bells and even the lead on the roofs. The picturesque remains 
of some of the great abbey churches are still among the chief 
objects of interest to the sight-seer in England, The monastery 
lands were, of course, appropriated by the king. They were sold 
for the benefit of the government or given to nobles whose favor 
the king wished to secure. 

766. Destruction of Shrines and Images. Along with the 
destruction of the monasteries went an attack upon the shrines 
and images in the churches, which were adorned with gold and 
jewels. The shrine of St. Thomas of Canterbury (§ 548) was 
destroyed, and the bones of the saint were burned. These acts 
resembled the Protestant attacks on images which occurred in 
Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. The main object of 
the king and his party was probably to get money, although the 
reason urged for the destruction was the superstitious veneration 
in which the relics and images were popularly held, 

767. Henry's Third Marriage and the Birth of Edward VI. 
Henry's family troubles by no means came to an end with his 
marriage to Anne Boleyn. Of her, too, he soon tired, and three 
years after their marriage he had her executed on a series of 



528 History of Europe 

monstrous charges. The very next day he married his third wife, 
Jane Seymour, who was the mother of his son and successor, 
Edward VI. Jane died a few days after her son's birth, and later 
Henry married in succession three other women who are his- 
torically unimportant since they left no children as claimants for 
the crown. Henry took care that his three children, all of whom 
were destined to reign, should be given their due place in the line 
of inheritance by act of Parliament.^ His death in 1547 left the 
great problem of Protestantism and Catholicism to be settled by 
his son and daughters. 

III. England becomes Protestant 

768. Edward VI's Ministers introduce Protestant Practices. 
While the revolt of England against the papacy was carried 
through by the government at a time when the greater part of 
the nation was still Catholic, there was undoubtedly, under 
Henry VIII, an ever-increasing number of aggressive and ardent 
Protestants who approved the change. During the six years of the 
boy Edward's reign — he died in 1553 at the age of sixteen — 
those in charge of the government favored the Protestant party 
and did what they could to change the faith of all the people by 
bringing Protestant teachers from the Continent. 

A general demolition of all the sacred images was ordered ; even 
the beautiful stained glass, the glory of the cathedrals, was de- 
stroyed, because it often represented saints and angels. The king 
was to appoint bishops without troubling to observe the old forms 
of election (§§ 587-588), and Protestants began to be put into 
the high offices of the Church. Parliament turned over to the 
king the funds which had been established for the purpose of 
having Masses chanted for the dead, and decreed that thereafter 
the clergy should be free to marry. 

1 Henry VIII, m. (i) Catherine m. (2) Anne Boleyn m. (3) Jane Seymour 

Mary (1553-1558) Elizabeth (1558-1603) Edward VT (1547-1553) 

It was arranged that the son was to succeed to the throne. In case he died without 
heirs, Mary and then Elizabeth were to follow. 



Protestant Revolt in Switzerland and England 529 



769. The Prayer Book and the "Thirty-nine Articles." A 
prayer book in English was prepared under the auspices of Par- 
liament, not very unlike that used in the Church of England 
to-day (see below, § 797). Moreover, forty-two articles of faith 
were drawn up by the government, which were to be the standard 
of belief for the country. These, in the time of. Queen Elizabeth, 
were revised and reduced to 
the famous " Thirty-nine 
Articles," which still consti- 
tute the creed of the Church 
of England. 

The changes in the church 
services must have sadly 
shocked a great part of the 
English people, who had been 
accustomed to watch with awe 
and expectancy the various 
acts associated with the many 
church ceremonies and festi- 
vals. Earnest men who de- 
plored the misrule of those 
who conducted Edward's gov- 
ernment in the name of 
Protestantism must have con- 
cluded that the reformers 
were chiefly intent upon ad- 
vancing their own interests by plundering the Church. We get 
some idea of the desecrations of the time from the fact that Ed- 
ward was forced to forbid '' quarreling and shooting in churches " 
and " the bringing of horses and mules through the same, making 
God's house like a stable or common inn." Although many were 
heartily in favor of the recent changes, it is no wonder that after 
Edward's death there was a revulsion in favor of the old religion. 

770. Queen Mary (i553-i558) and the Catholic Restoration. 
Edward VI was succeeded in 1553 by his half sister Mary, the 
daughter of Catherine, who had been brought up in the Catholic 




Fig. 135. Edward VI. (By Holbein) 

This interesting sketch was made before 

Edward became king ; he could have 

been scarcely six years old, as Holbein 

died in 1 543 



530 



History of Europe 



faith and held firmly to it. Her ardent hope of bringing her king- 
dom back once more to her religion did not seem altogether ill- 
founded, for the majority of the people were still Catholics at 
heart, and many who were not Catholics disapproved of the policy 

of Edward's ministers, 
who had removed 
abuses "in the devil's 
own way, by breaking 
in pieces." 

The Catholic cause 
appeared, moreover, to 
be strengthened by 
Mary's marriage with 
the Spanish prince, 
Philip II, the son of 
the orthodox Charles V. 
But although Philip 
later distinguished him- 
self, as we shall see, by 
the merciless way in 
which he strove to put 
down heresy within his 
realms, he never gained 
any great influence in 
England. By his mar- 
riage with Mary he ac- 
quired the title of king, 
but the English took 
care that he should 
have no hand in the 
government nor by any 
means be permitted to succeed his wife on the English throne. 
Mary succeeded in bringing about a nominal reconciliation be- 
tween England and the Roman Church. In 1554 the papal legate 
restored to the communion of the Catholic Church the " Kneeling" 
Parliament, which theoretically, of course, represented the nation. 




Fig. 1 36. Queen Mary. (By Antonio Moro) 

This lifelike portrait, in the Madrid collection, 
is by a favorite painter of Philip II, Mary's hus- 
band (see Fig. 138). It was painted about 1554, 
and one gets the same impressions of Mary's 
character from the portrait that one does from 
reading about her. Moro had Holbein's skill in 
painting faces 



Protestant Revolt in Switzerland and England 531 

Durlug^^Xast four years of Mary's reign the most serious 
religious p^^Htion in English history occurred. No less than 
two hundi^H^id seventy-seven persons were put to death for 
denying th^Olpchings of the Roman Church. The majority of 
the victims Vefre humble artisans and husbandmen. The three 
most notable sufferers were the bishops Cranmer, Latimer, and 
Ridley, who were burned in Oxford. 

It was Mary's hope and belief that the heretics sent to the 
stake would furnish a terrible warning to the Protestants and 
check the spread of the new teachings, but Catholicism was not 
promoted ; on the contrary, doubters were only convinced of the 
earnestness of the Protestants who could die with such constancy/ 

QUESTIONS 

I. How did the Swiss Confederation originate ? Describe the re- 
forms begun by Zwingli. Who was Calvin and what are his claims to 
■ listinction ? 

II. Mention the chief contemporaries of Erasmus. What was the 
policy of Wolsey ? Describe the divorce case of Henry VIII. In what 
way did Henry VIII break away from the papacy ? What reforms did 
he introduce ? What was the dissolution of the monasteries ? 

III. What happened during the reign of Edward VI ? What was 
he policy of Queen Mary ? 

1 The Catholics, it should be noted, later suffered serious persecution under Eliza- 
beth and James I, the Protestant successors of Mary. Death was the penalty fixed in 
■lany cases for those who obstinately refused to recognize the monarch as the rightful 
.ead of the English Church, and heavy fines were imposed for the failure to attend 
, 'rotestant worship. Two hundred Catholic priests are said to have been executed under 
Klizabeth, Mary's sister, who succeeded her on the throne ; others were tortured or 
erished miserably in prison. 



CHAPTER XXXIV 
THE WARS OF RELIGION 

I. The Council of Trent ; the Jesuits 

771. Council of Trent (i545-i563). In the preceding chapters 
we have seen how northern Germany, England, and portions of 
Switzerland revolted from the papacy and established independent 
Protestant churches. A great part of western Europe, however, 
remained faithful to the Pope and to the old beliefs which had 
been accepted for so many centuries. In order to consider the 
great question of reforming the Catholic Church and to settle 
disputed questions of religious belief a great church council was 
summoned by the Pope to meet in Trent, on the confines of 
Germany and Italy, in the year 1545. Charles V hoped that the 
Protestants would come to the council and that their ideas might 
even yet be reconciled with those of the Catholics. But the 
Protestants did not come, for they were too suspicious of an as- 
sembly called by the Pope to have any confidence in its decisions. 

The Council of Trent was interrupted after a few sessions and 
did not complete its work for nearly twenty years after it first 
met. It naturally condemned the Protestant beliefs so far as 
they differed from the views held by the Catholics, and it sanc- 
tioned those doctrines which the Catholic Church still holds. It 
accepted the Pope as the head of the Church ; it declared accursed 
anyone who, like Luther, believed that man would be saved by 
faith in God's promises alone, for the Church held that man, 
with God's help, could increase his hope of salvation by good 
works. It ratified all the seven sacraments, several of which the 
Protestants had rejected. The ancient Latin translation of the 
Bible — the Vulgate, as it is called — was proclaimed the standard 
of belief, and no one was to publish any views about the Bible 
differing from those approved by the Church. 

532 



The Wars of Religion 533 

772. The "Index." The Council suggested that the Pope's 
officials should compile a list of dangerous books which faithful 
Catholics might not read for fear that their faith in the old 
Church would be disturbed. Accordingly, after the Council broke 
up, the Pope issued the first " Index," or list of books which were 
not to be further printed or circulated on account of the false 
religious teachings they contained. Similar lists have since been 
printed from time to time. The establishment of this " Index of 
Prohibited Books" was one of the most famous of the Council's 
acts. It was hoped that in this way the spread through the print- 
ing press of heretical doctrines contrary to the teachings of the 
Roman Catholic Church and of immoral ideas could be checked. 

773. Results of the Reform of the Catholic Church. Al- 
though the Council of Trent would make no compromises with 
the Protestants, it took measures to do away with certain abuses 
of which both Protestants and devout Catholics complained. 
All clergymen were to attend strictly to their duties, and no one 
was to be appointed who merely wanted the income from his 
office. The bishops were ordered to preach regularly and to see 
that only good men were ordained priests. A great improvement 
actually took place — better men were placed in office and many 
practices which had formerly irritated the people were perma- 
nently abolished. 

774. Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556), Founder of the Jesuits. 
Among those who, during the final sessions of the Council, 
sturdily opposed every attempt to reduce in any way the exalted 
power of the Pope, was the head of a new religious society which 
was becoming the most powerful Catholic organization in Europe. 
The Jesuit order, or Society of Jesus, was founded by a Spaniard, 
Ignatius Loyola. He had been a soldier in his younger days, and 
while bravely fighting for his king, Charles V, had been wounded 
by a cannon ball (1521). Obliged to lie inactive for weeks, he 
occupied his time in reading the lives of the saints and became 
filled with a burning ambition to emulate their deeds. Upon re- 
covering, he dedicated himself to the service of the Church, donned 
a beggar's gown, and started on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. 



534 History of Europe 

Later he went to Paris and sought to influence his fellow 
students at the university ; and finally, in 1 534, seven of his 
companions agreed to follow him to Italy and devote themselves 
to the service of the Pope. When asked to what order they 
belonged, they replied, ''To the Society of Jesus." 

775. Rigid Discipline and Objects of the Jesuits. In 1538 
Loyola summoned his followers to Rome, and there they worked 
out the principles of their order. When this had been done the 
Pope gave his sanction to the new society. Loyola had been a 
soldier, and he laid great and constant stress upon absolute and 
unquestioning obedience. This he declared to be the mother of 
all virtue and happiness. Not only were all the members of the 
new association to obey the Pope as Christ's representative on 
earth and to undertake without hesitation any journey, no 
matter how distant or perilous, which he might command, but 
each was to obey his superiors in the order as if he were receiving 
directions from Christ in person. He must have no will or pref- 
erence of his own^ but must be as the staff which supports and 
aids its bearer in any way in which he sees fit to use it. This 
admirable organization and incomparable discipline were the great 
secret of the later influence of the Jesuits. 

The object of the society was to cultivate piety and the love of 
God, especially through example. The members were to pledge 
themselves to lead a pure life of poverty and devotion. A great 
number of the members were priests, who went about preaching, 
hearing confession, and encouraging devotional exercises. But 
the Jesuits were teachers as well as preachers and confessors. 
They clearly perceived the advantage of bringing young people 
under their influence ; they opened schools and seminaries and 
soon became the schoolmasters of Catholic Europe. So successful 
were their methods of instruction that even Protestants sometimes 
sent their children to them. 

776. Activities of the Jesuits. Before the death of Loyola 
over a thousand persons had joined the society. Under his suc- 
cessor the number was trebled, and it went on increasing for two 
centuries. The founder of the order had been, as we have seen, 



The Wars of Religion 



535 



attracted to missionary work from the first, and the Jesuits rapidly 
spread not only over Europe but throughout the whole world. 
Francis Xavier, one of Loyola's original little band, went to 
Hindustan, the Moluccas, and Japan. Brazil, Florida, Mexico, 
and Peru were soon fields of active missionary work at a time 
when Protestants as yet scarcely dreamed of carrying Christianity 




Fig. 137. Principal Jesuit Church in Venice 

The Jesuits believed in erecting magnificent churches. This is a good example. 

The walls are inlaid with green marble in an elaborate pattern, and all the 

furnishings are very rich and gorgeous 

to the heathen. We owe to the Jesuits' reports much of our knowl- 
edge of the condition of America when white men first began to 
explore Canada and the Mississippi valley, for the followers of 
Loyola boldly penetrated into regions unknown to Europeans and 
settled among the natives with the purpose of bringing the Gospel 
to them. 

Dedicated as they were to the service of the Pope, the Jesuits 
early directed their energies against Protestantism. They sent 
their members into Germany and the Netherlands and even made 



536 History of Europe 

strenuous efforts to reclaim England. Their success was most 
apparent in southern Germany and Austria, where they became 
the confessors and confidential advisers of the rulers. They not 
only succeeded in checking the progress of Protestantism but 
were able to reconquer for the Catholic Church some districts in 
which the old faith had been abandoned. 

777. Accusations brought against the Jesuits. Protestants 
soon realized that the new order was their most powerful and 
dangerous enemy. Their apprehensions produced a bitter hatred 
which blinded them to the high purposes of the founders of the 
order and led them to attribute an evil purpose to every act of the 
Jesuits. The Jesuits' air of humility the Protestants declared to 
be mere hypocrisy under which they carried on their intrigues. 
They were popularly supposed to justify the most deceitful and 
immoral measures on the ground that the result would be " for the 
greater glory of God." The very obedience on which the Jesuits 
laid such stress was viewed by the hostile Protestant as one of 
their worst offenses, for he believed that the members of the order 
were the blind tools of their superiors and that they would not 
hesitate even to commit a crime if so ordered.^ 

II. Philip II and the Revolt of the Netherlands 

778. Philip II, the Enemy of Protestantism. The chief ally 
of the Pope and the Jesuits in their efforts to check Protestantism 
in the latter half of the sixteenth century was. the son of Charles V, 
Philip II. Like the Jesuits he enjoys a most unenviable reputation 
among Protestants. Certain it is that they had no more terrible 
enemy among the rulers of the day than he. He eagerly forwarded 
every plan to attack England's Protestant queen, Elizabeth, and 
finally manned a mighty fleet with the purpose of overthrowing 

1 As time went on, the Jesuit order degenerated just as the earlier ones had done. In 
the eighteenth century it undertook great commercial enterprises, and for this and other 
reasons lost the confidence and respect of even the Catholics. The king of Portugal was 
the first to banish the Jesuits from his kingdom ; and then France, where they had long 
been very unpopular with an influential party of the Catholics, expelled them in 1764. 
Convinced that the order had outgrown its usefulness, the Pope abolished it in 1773. It 
was, however, restored in 1814, and now again has thousands of members. 



The Wars of Religion 537 

her (§805). He resorted, moreover, to great cruelty in his at- 
tempts to bring back his possessions in the Netherlands to what 
he believed to be the true faith. 

779. Division of the Hapsburg Possessions. Charles V, 
crippled with the gout and old before his time, laid down the cares 
of government in 1 555-1 556. To his brother, Ferdinand, who 
had acquired by marriage the kingdoms of Bohemia and Hungary, 
Charles had earlier transferred the German possessions of the 
Hapsburgs. To his son, Philip H (i 556-1 598), he gave Spain 
with its great American colonies, Milan, the kingdom of the Two 
Sicilies, and the Netherlands.^ 

780. The Netherlands. The Netherlands, which were to cause 
Philip his first and greatest trouble, included seventeen provinces 
which Charles V had inherited from his grandmother, Mary of 
Burgundy (§ 716). They occupied the position on the map where 
we now find the kingdoms of Holland and Belgium. Each of the 
provinces had its own government, but Charles V had grouped 
them together and arranged that the German Empire should pro- 
tect them. In the north the hardy Germanic population had 
been able, by means of dikes which kept out the sea, to reclaim 

arge tracts of lowlands. Here considerable cities had grown up — 
Harlem, Leyden, Amsterdam, and Rotterdam. To the south were 
the flourishing towns of Ghent, Bruges, Brussels, and Antwerp, 
which had for hundreds of years been centers of manufacture 
and trade. 

1 Division of the Hapsburg possessions between the Spanish and the German 
branches : 

MaximiHan I (d. 15 19), m. Mary of Burgundy (d. 14S2) 

PhiHp (d. 1506), m. Joanna the Insane (d. 1555) 



• I I 

Charles V (d. 1558) Ferdinand (d. 1564), m. Anna, heiress to kingdoms 

Emperor, 1519-1556 Emperor, 1556-1564 I of Bohemia and Hungary 

Philip II (d. 1598) Maximilian II (d. 1576) 

inherits Spain, the Netherlands, Emperor, and inherits Bohemia, 

and the Italian possessions of Hungary, and the Austrian pos- 

the Hapsburgs sessions of the Hapsburgs 

The map of Europe in the sixteenth century (see above, p. 496) indicates the vast 
extent of the combined possessions of the Spanish and German Hapsburgs. 



538 



History of Europe 



781. Philip II's Harsh Attitude toward the Netherlands. 

Philip's haughty manner made a disagreeable impression upon the 
people at Brussels when his father first introduced him to them 
as their future ruler. He was to them a Spaniard and a foreigner, 
and he ruled them as such after he returned to Spain. ■ 

Instead of attempting to win them by meeting their legitimate 
demands, he did everything to alienate all classes in his Bur- 

^undian realm and 
to increase their 
natural hatred and 
lively suspicion of 
the Spaniards. The 
people were forced 
to house Spanish 
soldiers whose in- 
solence drove them 
nearly to despera- 
tion. 

What was still 
worse, Philip pro- 
posed that the In- 
quisition (§ 627) 
should carry on its 
work far more ac- 
tively than hitherto 
and put an end to 
the heresy which appeared to him to defile his fair realms. 
The Inquisition was no new thing to the provinces. Charles V 
had issued the most cruel edicts against the followers of 
Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin. According to a law of 1550, 
heretics who persistently refused to recant were to be burned 
alive. Even those who confessed their errors and abjured their 
heresy were, if men, to lose their heads ; if women, to be buried 
alive. In either case their property was to be confiscated. The 
lowest estimate of those who were executed in the Netherlands 
during Charles's reign is fifty thousand. Although these terrible 




Fig. 138. Philip II. (By Antonio Moro) 



The Wars of Religion 539 

laws had not checked the growth of Protestantism, all of Charles's 
decrees were solemnly reenacted by Philip in the first month of 
his reign. 

For ten years the people suffered Philip's rule ; nevertheless 
their king, instead of listening to the protests of their leaders, who 
were quite as earnest Catholics as himself, appeared to be bent on 
the destruction of the land. So in 1566 some five hundred of the 
nobles ventured to protest against Philip's policy. 

782. Alva's Cruel Administration (i567-i573). Thereupon 
Philip took a step which led finally to the revolt of the Nether- 
lands. He decided to dispatch to the low countries the remorseless 
duke of Alva, whose conduct has made his name synonymous 
with blind and unmeasured cruelty. 

The report that Alva was coming caused the flight of many of 
those who especially feared his approach. William of Orange, 
who was to be the leader in the approaching war against Spain, 
went to Germany. Thousands of Flemish weavers fled across 
the North Sea, and the products of their looms became before 
long an important article of export from England. 

Alva brought with him a fine army of Spanish soldiers, ten 
thousand in number and superbly equipped. He appeared to 
think that the wisest and quickest way of pacifying the discon- 
tented provinces was to kill all those who ventured to criticize 
" the best of kings," of whom he had the honor to be the faithful 
servant. He accordingly established a special court for the speedy 
trial and condemnation of all those whose fidelity to Philip was 
suspected. This was popularly known as the Council of Blood, 
for its aim was not justice but butchery. Alva's administration 
from 1567 to 1573 was a veritable reign of terror. 

783. William of Orange, called the Silent (i533-i584). The 
Netherlands found a leader in William, Prince of Orange and 
Count of Nassau. He is a national hero whose career bears a 
striking resemblance to that of Washington. Like the American 
patriot, he undertook the seemingly hopeless task of freeing his 
people from the oppressive rule of a distant king. To the Spaniards 
he appeared to be only an impoverished nobleman at the head of 



540 History of Europe 

a handful of armed peasants and fishermen, contending against 
the sovereign of the richest realm in the world. 

William had been a faithful subject of Charles V and would 
gladly have continued to serve his son after him had the oppres- 
sion and injustice of the Spanish dominion not become intolerable. 
But Alva's policy convinced him that it was useless to send any 
more complaints to Philip. He accordingly collected a little army 
in 1568 and opened the long struggle with Spain. 

William found his main support in the northern provinces, of 
which Holland was the chief. The Dutch, who had very generally 
accepted Protestant teachings, were purely German in blood, while 
the people of the southern provinces, who adhered (as they still 
do) to the Roman Catholic faith, were more akin to the population 
of northern France. 

The Spanish soldiers found little trouble in defeating the troops 
which William collected. Like Washington, again, he seemed to 
lose almost every battle and yet was never conquered. The first 
successes of the Dutch were gained by the mariners, who captured 
Spanish ships and sold them in Protestant England. Encouraged 
by this, many of the towns in the northern provinces of Holland 
and Zealand ventured to choose William as their governor, al- 
though they did not throw off their allegiance to Philip. In this 
way these two provinces became the nucleus of the United 
Netherlands. 

784. Both the Northern and Southern Provinces combine 
against Spain (i576). Alva recaptured a number of the revolted 
towns and treated their inhabitants with his customary cruelty ; 
even women and children were slaughtered in cold blood. But 
instead of quenching the rebellion he aroused the Catholic south- 
ern provinces to revolt. 

After six years of this tyrannical and mistaken policy, Alva 
was recalled. His successor soon died and left matters worse than 
ever. The leaderless soldiers, trained in Alva's school, indulged 
in wild orgies of robbery and murder ; they plundered and par- 
tially reduced to ashes the rich city of Antwerp. The " Spanish 
fury," as this outbreak was called, together with the hated taxes, 



£r/?e Wars of Religion} S4i 



created such general indignation that representatives from all of 
Philip's Burgundian provinces met at Ghent in 1576 with the 
purpose of combining to put an end to the Spanish tyranny. 

This union was, however, only temporary. Wiser and more 
moderate governors were sent by Philip to the Netherlands, and 
they soon succeeded in again winning the confidence of the south- 
ern Catholic provinces. So the northern provinces went their own 
way. Guided by William the Silent, they refused to consider the 
idea of again recognizing Philip as their king. In 1579 seven 
provinces, all lying north of the mouths of the Rhine and the 
Scheldt, formed the new and firmer Union of Utrecht. The articles 
of this union served as a constitution for the United Provinces 
which, two years later, at last formally declared themselves in- 
dependent of Spain. 

785. Assassination of William the Silent. Philip realized 
that William was the soul of the revolt and that without him it 
might, not improbably, have been put down. The king therefore 
offered to confer a title of nobility and a large sum of money 
on anyone who should make way with the Dutch patriot. After 
several unsuccessful attempts William, who had been chosen 
hereditary governor of the United Provinces, was shot in his house 
at Delft, 1584. He died praying the Lord to have pity upon his 
soul and "on this poor people." 

786. Independence of the United Provinces. The Dutch had 
long hoped for aid from Queen Elizabeth or from the French, but 
had heretofore been disappointed. At last the English queen de- 
cided to send troops to their assistance. While the English ren- 
dered but little actual help, Elizabeth's policy so enraged Philip 
that he at last decided to attempt the conquest of England. The 
destruction of the "Armada," the great fleet which he equipped 
for that purpose (§ 805), interfered with further attempts to sub- 
jugate the United Provinces, which might otherwise have failed 
to maintain their liberty. Moreover, Spain's resources were being 
rapidly exhausted, and the State was on the verge of bankruptcy 
in spite of the wealth which it had been drawing from across the 
sea. But even though Spain had to surrender the hope of winning 



542 History of Europe 

back the lost provinces, which now became a small but importan- 
European power, she refused formally to acknowledge their in- 
dependence until 1648 (Peace of Westphalia, §817). 

III. The Huguenot Wars in France 

787. Beginnings of Protestantism in France. The history- 
of France during the latter part of the sixteenth century is little 
more than a chronicle of a long and bloody series of civil wars 
between the Catholics and Protestants. 

Protestantism began in France in much the same way as in 
England. Those who had learned from the Italians to love the 
Greek language turned to the New Testament in the original 
and commenced to study it with new insight. Lefevre, the most 
conspicuous of these Erasmus-like reformers, translated the Bible 
into French and began to preach justification by faith before he 
had ever heard of Luther. 

The Sorbonne, the famous theological school at Paris, soon 
began to arouse the suspicions of Francis I against the new ideas,. 
He had no special interest in religious matters, but he was shocked 
by an act of desecration ascribed to the Protestants, and in conse- 
quence forbade the circulation of Protestant books. About 1535 
several adherents of the new faith were burned, and Calvin wa^ 
forced to flee to Basel, where he prepared a defense of his beliefs 
which he published as a sort of preface to his famous Instituti 
of Christianity (§ 758). Francis, before his death, became so 
intolerant that he ordered the massacre of three thousand defense- 
less peasants who dwelt on the slopes of the Alps, and whose only 
offense was adherence to the simple teachings of the Waldensians 
(see above, § 625). 

Francis' son, Henry II (1547-1559), swore to extirpate th« 
Protestants, and hundreds of them were burned. He was acci- 
dentally killed in a tourney and left his kingdom to three weal- 
sons, the last scions of the house of Valois, who succeeded in 
turn to the throne during a period of unprecedented civil war and 
public calamity. 



The Wars of Religion 543 

When his second son, Charles IX (i 560-1 574), came to the 
throne he was but ten years old, so that his mother, Catherine 
of Medici, of the famous Florentine family, claimed the right to 
conduct the government for her son until he reached manhood. 

788. The Huguenots and their Political Aims. By this 
time the Protestants in France had become a powerful party. 
They were known as Huguenots^ and accepted the religious 
teachings of their fellow countryman, Calvin. Many of them, 
including their great leader Coligny, belonged to the nobility. 
They had a strong support in the king of the little realm of 
Navarre, on the southern boundary of France. He belonged to 
a side line of the French royal house, known as the Bourbons, 
who were later to occupy the French throne (see genealogical 
table, p. 544). It was inevitable that the Huguenots should try 
to get control of the government, and they consequently formed 
a political as well as a religious party and were often fighting, in 
the main, for worldly ends. 

Catherine tried at first to conciliate both Catholics and Hu- 
guenots, and granted a Decree of Toleration (1562) suspending 
the former edicts against the Protestants and permitting them to 
assemble for worship during the daytime and outside of the towns. 
Even this restricted toleration of the Protestants appeared an 
abomination to the more fanatical Catholics, and a savage act of 
the duke of Guise — a member of a very powerful family — pre- 
cipitated civil war. 

789. The Massacre of Vassy. As the duke was passing through 
the town of Vassy on a Sunday he found a thousand Huguenots 
assembled in a barn for worship. The duke's followers rudely 
interrupted the service, and a tumult arose in which the troops 
killed a considerable number of the defenseless multitude. The 
news of this massacre aroused the Huguenots and was the be- 
ginning of a war which continued, broken only by short truces, 
for over thirty years, until the last weak descendant of the house 
of Valois ceased to reign. As in the other religious wars of the 
time, both sides exhibited inhuman cruelty. France was filled 

1 The origin of this name is uncertain. 



544 



History of Europe 



CO 

IS 

o 

o 
N 

K 
H 



CO 

s 

< 

> 

H 

K 
H 

H 
Pi 
< 

>< 
Pi 
< 



C/3 

w 

CO 

o 

H 
K 
H 

(K 
O 

CO 

O 

H 

< 
>-l 



P< 



aj •'" 


^ 




o (u 


0) « 


\n H C 


U o 


(d. I 

Nava 

enda 


H 






^ 


>.W)'^ 


ON 


!C"C 'A 


to 

lO 


<=:3 



o ■ 
<4 






~ .2 

S3 

■^"^^ 

3 C £ . 
O <U o 

" S <" 



'-' (J 
■ <u 

" ' eo 

S c 

in W 

'3 >, 

O J3 
H-I 



,2 o 



lO 


Tfnj 




t^ O 


l-v 


t^ 


1-4 


w d .-. 




. OK* 


-n 


■o J2 !~! 


>- 






Xfeg 


in 


2 -y J 




3 <L) 


3 


O t- 


O 

H-1 


^ «) 



'2 <« 

OS -^ 

o o 
rt o 






.>,"-)0 2 



3i&' 



^ to 

3 " 

■^.'^■- 

2" 
rt 3 

DO 






. o « 



X 






•-' o ^ 

" w ° i: 

_ c " J= 53 



■n o 

3 C/3 



it V 



"1 



13 
B 
rt T) 

o S o -3 ^ 
(/) rt 1) S C 

VlH W 0) tS 

s ^ 



0) 

2 ° i 



Ot3 

3^ 

'V ^^ 

_ . (U 



00 

00 
"1 



The Wars of Religion 545 

for a generation with burnings, pillage, and barbarity. The 
leaders of both the Catholic and Protestant parties, as well as 
two of the French kings themselves, fell by the hands of assassins, 
and France renewed in civil war all the horrors of the English 
invasion in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. 

790. Coligny's Influence. In 1570 a brief peace was concluded. 
The Huguenots were to be tolerated, and certain towns were as- 
signed to them, where they might defend themselves in case of 
lenewed attacks from the Catholics. For a time both Charles IX 
and his mother, Catherine of Medici, were on the friendliest terms 
with the Huguenot leader Coligny, who became a sort of prime 
minister. He was anxious that Catholics and Protestants should 
join in a great national war against France's old enemy, Spain. 

791. Massacre of St. Bartholomew (1572). The strict Catholic 
party of the Guises frustrated this plan by a most fearful expedient. 
'1 hey easily induced Catherine of Medici to believe that she was 
being deceived by Coligny, and an assassin was engaged to put 
him out of the way ; but the scoundrel missed his aim and only 
wounded his victim. Fearful lest the young king, who was faithful 
to Coligny, should discover her part in the attempted murder, 
(Catherine invented a story of a great Huguenot conspiracy. The 
credulous king was deceived, and the Catholic leaders at Paris 
a-ranged that not only Coligny but all the Huguenots, gathered 
in great numbers in the city to witness the marriage of the king's 
;i>ter to the Protestant Henry of Navarre, should be massacred 
Oil the eve of St. Bartholomew's Day (August 23, 1572). 

When the signal arranged was given, no less than two thousand 
persons were ruthlessly murdered in Paris before the end of the 
next day. The news of this attack spread into the provinces, 
and it is probable that, at the very least, ten thousand more 
Protestants were put to death outside of the capital. 

792. Henry IV (i589-i6io) accepts the Catholic Faith. Civil 
war again broke out^ and was accompanied by a complicated 
struggle between claimants of the throne of France, as a result 
ej which the Huguenot Henry of Navarre ascended the throne 
as Henry IV in 1589. 



546 



History of Europe 



The new king had many enemies, and his kingdom was devas- 
tated and demoralized by years of war. He soon saw that he 
must accept the rehgion of the majority of his people if he wished 
to reign over them. He accordingly asked to be readmitted to 
the Catholic Church (1593), excusing himself on the ground that 
"Paris was worth a Mass." He did not forget his old friends, 

however, and in 1598 1^ 
issued the Edict of Nantes. 
793. The Edict 0' 
Nantes (1598). By thio 
edict of toleration the Cal- 
vinists were permitted to 
hold services in all th;; 
towns and villages where 
they had previously held 
them, but in Paris and a 
number of other towns all 
Protestant services wer- 
prohibited. The Protes 
tants were to enjoy the 
same political rights a 
Catholics and to be eligibL 
to government offices. A 
number of fortified towns 
were to remain in th(' 
hands of the Huguenots 
particularly La Rochelle. 
Montauban, and Nimes. Henry's only mistake lay in grantins; 
the Huguenots the right to control fortified towns. In the next 
generation this privilege aroused the suspicion of the king's mir- 
ister, Richelieu, who attacked the Huguenots, not so much on 
religious grounds as on account of their independent position in 
the state, which suggested that of the older feudal nobles. 

794. Ministry of Sully. Henry IV chose Sully, an upright 
and able Calvinist, for his chief minister. Sully set to work 1 ■ 
reestablish the kingly power, which had suffered greatly undei 




Fig. 139. Henry IV of France 

This spirited portrait of Henry of Navarre 
gives an excellent impression of his geni- 
ality and good sense 



The Wars of Religion 547 

the last three brothers of the house of Valois. He undertook to 
lighten the tremendous burden of debt which weighed upon the 
country. He laid out new roads and canals and encouraged agri- 
culture and commerce ; he dismissed the useless noblemen and 
officers whom the government was supporting without any advan- 
tage to itself. Had his administration not been prematurely inter- 
rupted it might have brought France unprecedented power and, 
prosperity ; but religious fanaticism put an end to his reforms, f 

In 1 6 10 Henry IV, like William the Silent, was assassinated 
just in the midst of his greatest usefulness to his country. Sully 
could not agree with the regent, Henry's widow, and so gave up 
his position and retired to private life. 

795. Richelieu. Before many years Richelieu, perhaps the; 
greatest minister France has ever had, rose to power, and from 
1624 to his death in 1642 he governed France for Henry IV's son, 
Louis XIII ( 1 610-1643). Something will be said of his policy 
in connection with the Thirty Years' War (§§814-817). 

IV. England under Queen Elizabeth i 

^96. England under Elizabeth (isss-ieos). The long and 
disastrous civil war between Catholics and Protestants, which 

■esolated France in the sixteenth century, had happily no counter- 
part in England. During her long reign Queen Elizabeth suc- 

eeded not only in maintaining peace at home but in frustrating 
rhe conspiracies and attacks of Philip II, which threatened her 
realm from without. Moreover, by her interference in the Nether- 
lands she did much to secure their independence of Spain. 

797. Elizabeth establishes the Church of England. Upon 
the death of Catholic Mary (§ 770) and the accession of her 
half sister Elizabeth in 1558, the English government became once 
more Protestant. The new queen had a new revised edition issued 
of the Book of Common Prayer which had been prepared in the 
time of her half brother, Edward VI. This contained the services 
V hich the government ordered to be performed in all the churches 
• England. All her subjects were required to accept the queen's 



548 



History of Europe 



views and to go to church, and ministers were to use nothing but 
the official prayer book. Elizabeth did not adopt the Presbyterian 
system advocated by Calvin but retained many features of the 
Catholic Church, including the bishops and archbishops. So the 

Anglican Church fol- 
lowed a middle path 
halfway between the 
Lutherans and Cal- 
vinists on the one 
hand and the Catho- 
lics on the other. 
The Roman Catholic 
churchmen who had 
held positions under 
Queen Mary were 
naturally dismissed 
and replaced by those 
who would obey 
Elizabeth and use her 
Book of Prayer. Her 
first Parliament gave 
the sovereign the 
powers of supreme 
head of the Church 
of England, although 
the title, which 'her 
father, Henry VIII, 
had assumed, was 
not revived. 

The Church of Eng- 
land still exists in 
much the same form 
in which it was established in the first years of Elizabeth's reign, 
and the prayer book is still used ; although Englishmen are no 
longer required to attend church and may hold any religious views 
they please without being interfered with by the government. 









.,'>■ ^B^ ■■■■'■/ 






«*'* ^■^'^ ■ 




d 


Ji:f^^'^ 


J 


f— 


1^ ^^^Hf 


-^«i^H 


J 




& '"'*■ -^^/T 


l^m 


1 

1 


hi 






rv 


.A; 


W0W 












- 






- 











Fig. 140. Portrait of Queen Elizabeth 

Elizabeth, the first woman to rule England, deemed 

herself a very handsome and imposing person. She 

was fond of fine clothes and doubtless had on her 

best when she sat for her portrait 



The Wars of Religion 549 

798. Presbyterian Church established in Scotland. While 
England adopted a middle course in religious matters Scotland 
became Presbyterian, and this led to much trouble for Elizabeth, 
There, shortly after her accession, the ancient Catholic Church 
was abolished, for the nobles were anxious to get the lands of the 
bishops into their own hands and enjoy the revenue from them, 
John Knox, a veritable second Calvin in his stern energy, secured 
the introduction of the Presbyterian form of faith and church 
government which still prevails in Scotland. 

799. Mary Stuart, the Scotch Queen, the Hope of the 
Catholics. In 1561 the Scotch queen, Mary Stuart, whose French 
husband, Francis 11,^ had just died, landed at Leith. She was but 
nineteen years old, of great beauty and charm, and, by reason 
of her Catholic faith and French training, almost a foreigner to 
her subjects. Her grandmother was a sister of Henry VHI, and 
Mary claimed to be the rightful heiress to the English throne 
should Elizabeth die childless. Consequently the beautiful Queen 
of Scots became the hope of all those who wished to bring back 
England and Scotland to the Roman Catholic faith. Chief among 
these were Philip II of Spain and Mary's relatives the Guises 
(§§ 789 and 791) in France. 

Mary quickly discredited herself with both Protestants and 
Catholics by her conduct. After marrying her second cousin. 
Lord Darnley, she discovered that he was a dissolute scapegrace 
and came to despise him. She then formed an attachment for a 
reckless nobleman named Bothwell. The house near Edinburgh 
in which Darnley was lying ill was blown up one night with gun- 
powder, and he was killed. The public suspected that both 
Bothwell and the queen were implicated. How far Mary was re- 
sponsible for her husband's death no one can be sure. It is cer- 
tain that she later married Bothwell and that her indignant 
subjects thereupon deposed her as a murderess. After fruitless at- 
tempts to regain her power she abdicated in favor of her infant 
son, James VI, and then fled to England to appeal to Elizabeth, 
While the prudent Elizabeth denied the right of the Scotch to 

1 Son of Henry II. See table, p. 544. 



550 History of Europe 

depose their queen, she was afraid of her claims and took good 
care to keep her rival practically a prisoner. 

800. The Rising in the North (i55 ) and Catholic Plans for 
deposing Elizabeth. As time went on, it became increasingly 
difficult for Elizabeth to adhere to her policy of moderation in 
the treatment of the Catholics. A rising in the north of England 
(1569) showed that there were many who would gladly reestab- 
lish the Catholic faith by freeing Mary and placing her on the 
English throne. This was followed by the excommunication of 
Elizabeth by the Pope, who at the same time absolved her sub- 
jects from their allegiance to their heretical ruler. Happily for 
Elizabeth the rebels could look for no help either from Philip II 
or the French king. The Spaniards had their hands full, for 
the war in the Netherlands had just begun ; and Charles IX, 
who had accepted Coligny as his adviser, was at that moment in 
hearty accord with the Huguenots. The rising in the North was 
suppressed, but the English Catholics continued to look to Philip 
for help. They opened correspondence with Alva and invited 
him to come with six thousand Spanish troops to dethrone Eliza- 
beth and make Mary Stuart queen of England in her stead. 
Alva hesitated, for he thought that it would be better to kill 
Elizabeth, or at least capture her. Meanwhile the plot was dis- 
covered and came to naught. 

801. English Mariners capture Spanish Ships. Although 
Philip found himself unable to harm England, the English mar- 
iners caused great loss to Spain. In spite of the fact that Spain 
and England were not openly at war, Elizabeth's seamen ex- 
tended their operations as far as the West Indies and seized 
Spanish treasure ships, with the firm conviction that in robbing 
Philip they were serving God. The daring Sir Francis Drake even 
ventured into the Pacific, where only the Spaniards had gone 
heretofore, and carried off much booty on his little vessel, the 
Pelican. 

802. Relations between England and Catholic Ireland. 
One hope of the Catholics has not yet been mentioned, namely, 
Ireland, whose relations with England from very early times down 



The Wars of Religion 551 

to the present day form one of the most cheerless pages in the 
history of Europe. The population was divided into numerous 
clans, and their chieftains fought constantly with one another as 
well as with the English, who were vainly endeavoring to subjur 
gate the island. 

Several attempts were made by Catholic leaders to land troops 
in Ireland with the purpose of making the island the base for an 
attack on England. Elizabeth's officers were able to frustrate 
these enterprises, but the resulting disturbances greiatly increased 
the misery of the Irish. In 1582 no less than thirty thousand 
people are said to have perished, chiefly from starvation. 

803. Persecution of the English Catholics. As Philip's 
troops began to get the better of the opposition in the southern 
Netherlands, the prospect of sending a Spanish army to England 
grew brighter. Two Jesuits were sent to England in 1580 to 
strengthen the adherents of their faith and urge them to assist the 
foreign force against their queen, when it should come. Parlia- 
ment now grew more intolerant and ordered fines and imprison- 
ment to be inflicted on those who said or heard Mass or who 
refused to attend the English services. One of the Jesuit emissaries 
was cruelly tortured and executed for treason, the other escaped 
to the Continent. 

In the spring of 1582 the first attempt by the Catholics to assas- 
sinate the heretical queen was made at Philip's instigation. It 
was proposed that when Elizabeth was out of the way an army 
should be sent to England to support the Catholics. 

804, Execution of Mary Queen of Scots (i587). Mary Queen 
of Scots did not live to witness the attempt. She became impli- 
cated in another plot for the assassination of Elizabeth. Parlia- 
ment now realized that as long as Mary lived Elizabeth's life was 
in constant danger ; whereas, if Mary were out of the way, 
Philip II would have no interest in the death of Elizabeth, since 
Mary's son, James VI of Scotland, who would succeed Elizabeth 
on the English throne, was a Protestant. Elizabeth was therefore 
reluctantly persuaded by her advisers to sign a warrant for Mary's 
execution in 1587. 



552 History oj Europe 

805. Destruction of the Spanish Armada (isss). Philip II, 
however, by no means gave up his project of reclaiming Protes- 
tant England. In 1588 he brought together a great fleet, includ- 
ing his best and largest warships, which was proudly called by 
the Spaniards the ''Invincible Armada" (that is, fleet). This 
was to sail through the English Channel to the Netherlands and 
bring over the Spanish commander there and his veterans, who, 
it was expected, would soon make an end of Elizabeth's raw 
militia. The English ships were inferior to those of Spain in size 
although not in number, but they had trained commanders, such 
as Francis Drake and Hawkins. 

These famous captains had long sailed the Spanish Main and 
knew how to use their cannon without getting near enough to 
the Spaniards to suffer from their short-range weapons. When 
the Armada approached it was permitted by the English fleet 
to pass up the Channel before a strong wind, which later became 
a storm. The English ships then followed, and both fleets were 
driven past the coast of Flanders. Of the hundred and twenty 
Spanish ships, only fifty-four returned home ; the rest had been 
destroyed by English valor or by the gale, to which Elizabeth 
herself ascribed the victory. The defeat of the Armada put an 
end to the danger from Spain. 

806. Failure of Philip II's Policy. As we look back over 
the period covered by the reign of Philip II, it is clear that it 
was a most notable one in the history of the Catholic Church. 
When he ascended the throne in 1556 Germany, as well as Switzer- 
land and the Netherlands, had become largely Protestant. Eng- 
land, however, under his Catholic wife, Mary, seemed to be 
turning back to the old religion, while the French monarchs 
showed no inclination to tolerate the heretical Calvinists. More- 
over, the new and enthusiastic order of the Jesuits promised to 
be a powerful agency in inducing the Protestants to accept once 
more the supremacy of the Pope and the doctrines of the Catholic 
Church as formulated by the Council of Trent. The tremendous 
power and apparently boundless resources of Spain itself, which 
were viewed by the rest of Europe with terror, Philip was prepared 



The Wars oj Religion 553 

to dedicate to the destruction of Protestantism throughout western 
Europe. This he undoubtedly believed to be his chief duty. 

But when Philip II died, in 1598, all was changed. England 
was permanently Protestant ; the " Invincible Armada " had been 
;niserably wrecked, and Philip's plan for bringing England once 
more within the fold of the Roman Catholic Church was forever 
frustrated. In France the terrible wars of religion were over, 
and a powerful king, lately a Protestant himself, was on the 
throne, who not only tolerated the Protestants but chose one of 
them for his chief minister and would brook no more meddling 
of Spain in French affairs. A new Protestant state, the United 
Netherlands (Holland), had actually appeared within the bounds 
of the realm bequeathed to Philip by his father. In spite of its 
small size Holland was destined to play, from that time on, quite 
as important a part in European affairs as the harsh Spanish 
stepmother from whose control it had escaped. 

Spain itself had suffered most of all from Philip's reign. His 
domestic policy and his expensive wars had sadly weakened the 
country. The income from across the sea was bound to decrease 
as the mines were exhausted. After Philip II's death Spain 
sank to the rank of a secondary European power. 

V. The Thirty Years' War 

807. The Thirty Years' War really a Series of Wars. The 
last great conflict caused by the differences between the Catholics 
and Protestants was fought out in Germany during the first half 
of the seventeenth century. It is generally known as the Thirty 
Years' War (161 8- 1648), but there was in reality a series of 
wars ; and although the fighting was done upon German ter- 
ritory, Sweden, France, and Spain played quite as important a 
part in the struggle as the various German states. 

Just before the abdication of Charles V, the Lutheran princes 
had forced the emperor to acknowledge their right to their own 
religion and to the church property which they had seized. 
The religious Peace of Augsburg (§755) had, however, as we 



554 History of Europe 

have seen, two great weaknesses. In the first place, only those 
Protestants who held the Lutheran faith were to be tolerated. 
The Calvinists, who were increasing in numbers, were not in- 
cluded in the peace. In the second place, the peace did not put 
a stop to the seizure of church property by the Protestant princes. 
Protestantism, however, made rapid progress and invaded the 
Austrian possessions and, above all, Bohemia. So it looked for 
a time as if even the Catholic Hapsburgs were to see large por- 
tions of their territory falling away from the old Church. But 
the Catholics had in the Jesuits a band of active and efficient 
missionaries. They not only preached and founded schools but 
also succeeded in gaining the confidence of some of the German 
princes, whose chief advisers they became. Conditions were very 
favorable, at the opening of the seventeenth century, for a re- 
newal of the religious struggle. 

808. Opening of the Thirty Years' War (leis). The long 
war began in Bohemia in 1618. This portion of the Austrian 
possessions was strongly Protestant and decided that the best 
policy was to declare its independence of the Hapsburgs and set 
up a king of its own. It chose Frederick, the Elector of the 
Palatinate, a Calvinist who would, it was hoped, enjoy the sup- 
port of his father-in-law. King James I of England.^ So Fred- 
erick and his English wife moved from Heidelberg to Prague. 
But their stay there was brief, for the Hapsburg emperor ( Ferdi- 
nand II) with the aid of the ruler of Bavaria put to flight the 
poor "winter king," as Frederick was called on account of his 
reign of a single season. 

This was regarded by the Protestants as a serious defeat, and 
the Protestant king of Denmark decided to intervene. He re- 
mained in Germany for four years, but was so badly beaten by 
the emperor's able general, Wallenstein, that he retired from 
the conflict in 1629. 

809. The Edict of Restitution (1629). The emperor was 
encouraged by the successes of the Catholic armies in defeating 
the Bohemian and Danish Protestant armies to issue that same 

1 James VI of Scotland, who succeeded Queen Elizabeth in 1603. 



The Wars of Religion 555 

year an Edict of Restitution. In this he ordered the Protestants 
throughout Germany to give back all the church possessions which 
they had seized since the religious Peace of Augsburg (1.555). 
Moreovei'y^ he decreed that only the Lutherans might hold re- 
ligious meetings ; the other " sects," including the Calvinists, 
were to be broken up. As Wallenstein was preparing to execute 
this decree in his usual merciless fashion, the war took a new turn. 

810. Dismissal of Wallenstein ; Gustavus Adolphus of 
Sweden (1594-1632). The Catholic League, which had' been 
formed some time before, had become jealous of Wallenstein, who 
threatened to become too powerful, and it accordingly joined 
in the complaints, which came from every side, of the terrible ex- 
tortions and incredible cruelty practiced by Wallenstein's troops. 
The emperor consented, therefore, to dismiss this most com- 
petent commander. Just as the Catholics were thus weakened, a 
new enemy arrived upon the scene who proved far more dangerous 
than any they had yet had to face ; namely, Gustavus Adolphus, 
king of Sweden. 

811. The Kingdom of Sweden. We have had no occasion 
hitherto to speak of the Scandinavian kingdoms of Norway, 
Sweden, and Denmark, which the northern German peoples had 
established about Charlemagne's time ; but from now on they 
begin to take part in the affairs of central Europe. The Union 
of Calmar (1397) had brought these three kingdoms, previously 
separate, under a single ruler. About the time that the Protes- 
tant revolt began in Germany the union was broken by the 
withdrawal of Sweden, which became an independent kingdom. 
Gustavus Vasa, a Swedish noble, led the movement and was 
later chosen king of Sweden (1523). In the same year Protes- 
tantism was introduced. Vasa confiscated the church lands, got 
the better of the aristocracy, — who had formerly made the kings 
a great deal of trouble, — and started Sweden on its way toward 
national greatness. 

812. Motives of Gustavus Adolphus. Gustavus Adolphus 
was induced to invade Germany for two reasons. In the first 
place, he was a sincere and enthusiastic Protestant and by far 



556 History of Europe ' 

the most generous and attractive figure of his time. He was 
genuinely afflicted by the misfortunes of his Protestant brethren 
and anxious to devote himself to their welfare. Secondly, he 
undoubtedly hoped by his invasion not only to free his fellow 
Protestants from the oppression of the emperor and of the Catho- 
lic League but to gain a strip of German territory for Sweden. 

813. Fate of Gustavus and Wallenstein. Gustavus was not 
received with much cordiality at first by the Protestant princes 
of the North, but they were brought to their senses by the awful 
destruction of Magdeburg by the troops of the Catholic League 
under General Tilly. Magdeburg was the most important town 
of northern Germany. When it finally succumbed after an ob- 
stinate and difficult siege, twenty thousand of its inhabitants were 
killed and the town burned to the ground. Although Tilly's 
reputation for cruelty is quite equal to that of Wallenstein, he 
was probably not responsible for the fire. After Gustavus 
Adolphus had met Tilly near Leipsic and victoriously routed 
the army of the League, the Protestant princes began to look 
with more favor on the foreigner. 

The next spring Gustavus entered Bavaria and once more de- 
feated Tilly (who was mortally wounded in the battle) and forced 
Munich to surrender. There seemed now to be no reason why he 
should not continue his progress to Vienna. At this juncture the 
emperor recalled Wallenstein, who collected a new army over 
which he was given absolute command. After some delay Gus- 
tavus met Wallenstein on the field of Liitzen, in November, 1632, 
where, after a fierce struggle, the Swedes gained the victory. But 
they lost their leader and Protestantism its hero, for the Swedish 
king ventured too far into the lines of the enemy and was sur- 
rounded and killed. 

The Swedes did not, however, retire from Germany, but con- 
tinued to participate in the war, which now degenerated into a 
series of raids by leaders whose soldiers depopulated the land 
by their unspeakable atrocities. Wallenstein, who had long been 
detested even by the Catholics, was deserted by his soldiers and 
murdered (in 1634), to the great relief of all parties. 



The Wars of Religion 



557 



814. Richelieu renews the Struggle of France against the 
Hapsburgs. Just at this moment Richelieu (§ 795) decided that 
it would be to the interest of France to renew the old struggle 
with the Hapsburgs by sending troops against the emperor. 
France was still shut in, as she had been since the time of 
Charles V, by the Hapsburg lands. Except on the side toward 
the ocean her bound- 
aries were in the 
main artificial ones 
and not those estab- 
lished by great rivers 
and mountains. She 
therefore longed to 
weaken her enemy 
and strengthen herself 
by winning Roussillon 
on the south and so 
make the crest of the 
Pyrenees the line of 
demarcation between 
France and Spain. She 
dreamed, too, of ex- 
tending her sway to- 
ward the Rhine by 
adding the county of 
Burgundy (that is, 
Franche-Comte, as it 

was often called) and a number of fortified towns which would 
afford protection against the Spanish Netherlands. 

Richeheu declared war against Spain in May, 1635. He had 
already concluded an alliance with the chief enemies of the house 
of Austria. So the war was renewed, and French, Swedish, 
Spanish, and German soldiers ravaged an already exhausted coun- 
try for a decade longer. The dearth of provisions was so great 
that the armies had to move quickly from place to place in order 
to avoid starvation. After a serious defeat by the Swedes the 




Fig. 141. Portrait of Cardinal Riche- 
lieu. (From A Contemporaneous Painting) 



History of Europe 

emperor (Ferdinand III, 1637-1657) sent a Dominican monk to 
expostulate with Cardinal Richelieu for his crime in aiding the 
German and Swedish heretics against Catholic Austria. 

815. France succeeds Spain in Military Supremacy. The 
cardinal had, however, just died (December, 1642), well content 
with the results of his diplomacy. The French were in possession 
of Roussillon and of Lorraine and Alsace. The military exploits 
of the French generals, especially Turenne and Conde, during- 
the opening years of the reign of Louis XIV (1643-1715), showec 
that a new period had begun in which the military and political 
supremacy of Spain was to give way to that of France (see below. 
Chapter XXXVI). 

816. Close of the Thirty Years' War (i648). The participants 
in the war were now so numerous and their objects so various 
and conflicting that it is not strange that it required some years 
to arrange the conditions of peace, even after everyone was 
ready for it. It was agreed (1644) that France and the Empire 
should negotiate at Miinster, and the emperor and the Swedes at 
Osnabriick — both of which towns lie in Westphalia. For four 
years the representatives of the several powers worked upon the 
difficult problem of satisfying everyone, but at last the treaties 
of Westphalia were signed late in 1648. 

817. Provisions of the Treaties of Westphalia. The religious 
troubles in Germany were settled by extending the toleration of 
the Peace of Augsburg so as to include the Calvinists as well as 
the Lutherans. The Protestant "princes were to retain the lands 
which they had in their possession in the year 1624, regardless 
of the Edict of Restitution, and each ruler was still to have the 
right to determine the religion of his state. The dissolution of 
the Holy Roman Empire was practically acknowledged by per- 
mitting the individual states to make treaties among themselves 
and with foreign powers ; this was equivalent to recognizing the 
practical independence which they had, as a matter of fact, already 
long enjoyed. While portions of northern Germany were ceded 
to Sweden, this territory did not cease to form a part of the 
Empire, for Sweden was thereafter to have three votes in the 
German diet. 



The Wars of Religion 559 

The emperor also ceded to France three important towns — 
Metz, Verdun, and Toul — and all his rights in Alsace, although 
the city of Strassburg was to remain with the Empire. Lastly, the 
independence both of the United Netherlands and of Switzerland 
was acknowledged. 

818. Disastrous Results of the War in Germany. The ac- 
counts of the misery and depopulation of Germany caused by the 
Thirty Years' War are well-nigh incredible. Thousands of vil- 
lages were wiped out altogether ; in some regions the population 
was reduced by one half, in others to a third, or even less, of 
what it had been at the opening of the conflict. The flourishing 
city of Augsburg was left with but sixteen thousand souls instead 
of eighty thousand. The people were fearfully barbarized by 
privation and suffering and by the atrocities of the soldiers of all 
the various nations. Until the end of the eighteenth century Ger- 
many remained too exhausted and impoverished to make any 
considerable contribution to the culture of Europe. 

VI. The Beginnings of our Scientific Age 

819. The New Science. The battles of the Thirty Years' War 
are now well-nigh forgotten, and few people are interested in Tilly 
and Wallenstein and Gustavus Adolphus. It seems as if the war 
did little but destroy men's lives and property, and that no great 
ends were accomplished by all the suffering it involved. But 
during the years that it raged certain men were quietly devoting 
themselves to scientific research which was to change the world 
more than all the battles that have ever been fought. These 
men adopted a new method. They perceived that the books of 
ancient writers, especially Aristotle, which were used as textbooks 
in the universities, were full of statements that could not be 
proved. They maintained that the only way to advance science 
was to set to work and try experiments, and by careful thought 
and investigation to determine the laws of nature without regard 
to what previous generations had thought. 

820. The Discovery of Copernicus. The Polish astronomer 
Copernicus published a work in 1543 in which he refuted the old 



560 History of Europe 

idea that the sun and all the stars revolved around the earth a- 
a center, as was then taught in all the universities. He showed 
that, on the contrary, the sun was the center about which tht 
earth and the rest of the planets revolved, and that the reason tha' 
the stars seem to go around the earth each day is because our 
globe revolves on its axis. Although Copernicus had been en- 
couraged to write his book by a cardinal and had dedicated it to 
the Pope, the Catholic as well as the Protestant theologians de- 
clared that the new theory contradicted the teachings of the Bible, 
and they therefore rejected it. But we know now that Copernicus 
was right and the theologians and universities wrong. 

821. Galileo. The Italian scientist Galileo (i 564-1 642), bj 
the use of a little telescope he contrived, was able in 1610 to see 
the spots on the sun ; these indicated that the sun was not, as 
Aristotle had taught, a perfect, unchanging body, and showed 
also that it revolved on its axis, as Copernicus had guessed thai 
the earth did. Galileo made careful experiments by dropping; 
objects from the leaning tower of Pisa, which proved that Aristotle 
was wrong in assuming that a body weighing a hundred pounds 
fell a hundred times as fast as a body weighing but one. He' 
wrote in Italian as well as in Latin. His opponents might have 
forgiven him had he confined his discussions to the learned wh(- 
could read Latin, but they thought it highly dangerous to have 
the new ideas set forth in such a way that the people at large 
might come to doubt what the theologians and universities were 
teaching. Galileo was finally summoned before the Inquisition ; 
some of his theories were condemned, and he was imprisoned by 
the Church authorities. 

822. Descartes. Just as the Thirty Years' War was beginning, 
a young Frenchman by the name of Descartes had finished his 
education at a Jesuit college and decided to get some knowledge 
of the world by going into the war for a short time. He did much 
more thinking than fighting, however. Sitting by the stove during 
the winter lull in hostilities, deep in meditation, it occurred to 
him one day that he had no reason for believing anything. He 
saw that everything that he accepted had come to him on the 



The Wars of Religion 561 

authority of someone else, and he failed to see any reason why the 
old authorities should be right. So he boldly set to work to think 
out a wholly new philosophy that should be entirely the result 
of his own reasoning. He decided, in the first place, that one 




Fig. 142, Galileo 

thing at least was true. He was thinking, and therefore he must 
exist. This he expressed in Latin in the famous phrase Cogito, 
ergo sum, "I think, therefore I am." He also decided that God 
must exist and that He had given men such good minds that, if 
they only used them carefully, they would not be deceived in 
the conclusions they reached. In short, Descartes held that clear 
thoughts must be true thoughts. 



562 



History of Europe 



Descartes not only founded modern philosophy, he was also 
greatly interested in science and mathematics. His most famous 
book, called An Essay on Method, was written in French anil 
addressed to intelligent men who did not know Latin. He says 

that those who use 
their own heads an^ 
much more likely to 
reach the truth than 
those who read ok; 
Latin books. Des 
cartes wrote clea 
textbooks on algebrn 
and that branch Oi 
mathematics known 
as analytical geom- 
etry, of which he 
was the discoverer. 
823. Francis 
Bacon's NewAtlan 
tis. Francis Bacon, 
an English lawyer 
and government offi- 
cial, spent his spare 
hours in explaining 
how men could in- 
crease their knowl- 
edge. He too wrote 
in his native tongue 
as well as in Latin. 
He was the most eloquent representative of the new science which 
renounced authority and relied upon experiment. ''We are the 
ancients," he declared, not those who lived long ago when the 
world was young and men ignorant. Late in life he began to 
write a little book, which he never finished, called the New 
Atlantis. It describes an imaginary state which some Europeans 
were supposed to have come upon in the Pacific Ocean. The chief 




Fig. 143. Rene Descartes 



The Wars of Religion 



563 



i)istitution was a "House of Solomon," a great laboratory for 
carrying on scientific investigation in the hope of discovering new 

<icts and using them for bettering the condition of the inhabitants. 

"his House of Solomon became a sort of model for the Royal 
i vcademy, which was 
established in London 

ome fifty years after 
! bacon's death. It still 
( xists and still publishes 

, s proceedings regularly. 
824. Scientific So- 
cieties Founded. The 
earliest societies for 
scientific research grew 
up in Italy. Later the 
ICnglish Royal Society 
and the French Insti- 
tute were established, as 
.veil as similar associa- 
tions in Germany. These 

'/ere the first things of 

he kind in the history 
of the world — except 
perhaps the ancient 

^tuseum at Alexandria 

§277). Their object 
was not, like that of the 

Id Greek schools of 
fihilosophy and the medieval universities, mainly to hand down 
and explain the knowledge derived from the past, but to find out 
what had never been known before. 

We have seen how in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries 
new inventions were made, such as the compass, paper, specta- 
cles, gunpowder, and, in the fifteenth century, the printing press. 
rSut in the seventeenth century progress began to be much more 
rapid, and an era of invention opened, in the midst of which we 




Fig. 144. Francis Bacon 



564 History of Europe 

still live. The microscope and telescope made it possible to dis- 
cover innumerable scientific truths that were hidden to the Greeks 
and Romans. In time this scientific advance produced a spirit 
of reform, also new in the world. This will be described in the 
following volume of this history. 

QUESTIONS 

I. What were the chief results of the Council of Trent? Why 
did the Protestants refuse to take part in it ? Give an account of the 
life of Loyola. What were the objects of the Jesuit order ? What 
accusations did the Protestants bring against the society ? 

II. What are your impressions of Philip II ? How did it come 
about that the Netherlands belonged to Spain ? Describe Philip's 
policy in dealing with the Netherlands. How did the United Nether- 
lands gain their independence ? 

III. What were the religious conditions in France when Charles IX 
and Catherine of Medici came into power ? What was the character 
of the Huguenot party ? Describe the massacre of St. Bartholomew. 
How did Henry IV become king ? What was the Edict of Nantes ? 

IV. What measures did Queen Elizabeth take in religious mat- 
ters ? How did the English Church originate ? Tell the story of Mary 
Queen of Scots. What was the policy of Philip II in regard to Eliza- 
beth ? What were the general results of Philip II's reign ? 

V. What was the origin of the Thirty Years' War ? What led 
the Swedish king to intervene ? What did the Swedes gain by the 
intervention ? Why did Richelieu send troops to fight in the war ? 
What were the chief provisions of the treaties of Westphalia ? What 
were the other results of the war ? 

VI. What is the difference between modern scientific research and 
the spirit of the medieval universities ? Describe the discoveries of 
Copernicus. What did Galileo accomplish ? Give the views of 
Descartes. What was the position of Francis Bacon in regard to 
scientific research ? What was the " House of Solomon " ? What 
societies were established for scientific investigation ? Can you think 
of some of the effects that modern science has had on our lives ? 



BOOK VIII. THE SEVENTEENTH AND 
EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES 

CHAPTER XXXV 
STRUGGLE IN ENGLAND BETWEEN KING AND PARLIAMENT 

I. James I and the Divine Right of Kings 

825. Accession of James I of England (1603) : the Stuarts. 
On the death of Elizabeth in 1603, James I, the first of the 
Scotch family of Stuart, ascended the throne. It will be remem- 
bered that he was the son of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, and 
through her a descendant of Henry VIH (see table, p. 544). In 
Scotland he reigned as James VI ; consequently the two kingdoms 
were now brought together under the same ruler. This did not, 
however, make the relations between the two countries much 
more cordial than they had been in the past. 

The chief interest of the period of the Stuarts, which began 
with the accession of James I in 1603 ^^^ ended with the flight 
from England of his grandson, James II, eighty-five years later, 
is the long and bitter struggle between the kings and Parlia- 
ment. The vital question was, Should the Stuart kings, who 
claimed to be God's representatives on earth, do as they thought 
fit, or should Parliament control them and the government of 
the country ? 

826. The Attitude of the Tudors toward Parliament. We 
have seen how the English Parliament originated in the time of 
Edward I and how his successors were forced to pay attention 
to its wishes (§§ 555-558, 567, 578). Under the Tudors — that 
is, from the time of Henry VII to Elizabeth — the monarchs had 
been able to manage Parliament so that it did, in general, just 

565 



566 



History of Europe 



what they wished. Henry VIII was a heartless tyrant, and his 
daughter EHzabeth, Hke her father, had ruled the nation in a 
high-handed manner, but neither of them had been accustomed to 
say much of their rights. 

827. James I loved to discuss the King's Claims. James I, 
on the other hand, had a very irritating way of discussing his 

claim to be the sole 
and divinely appointed 
ruler of England. "It 
is atheism and blas- 
phemy," he declared, 
" to dispute what God 
can do ; ... so it is 
presumption and high 
contempt in a subject 
to dispute what a king 
can do, or say that a 
king cannot do this or 
that." James was a 
learned man and was 
fond of writing books. 
Among those that he 
published was a work 
on monarchs, in which 
he claimed that the 
king could make any 
law he pleased without consulting Parliament ; that he was the 
master of every one of his subjects, high and low, and might put to 
death whom he pleased. A good king would act according to law, 
but is not bound to do so and has the power to change the law at 
any time to suit himself. 

828. The "Divine Right of Kings." These theories seem 
strange and very unreasonable to us, but James was only trying to 
justify the powers which the Tudor monarchs had actually exer- 
cised, and which the kings of France enjoyed down to the French 
Revolution of 1789. According to the theory of "the divine right 




Fig. 145. James I 



Struggle in England between King mid Parliament 567 

of kings " it had pleased God to appoint the monarch the father 
of his people, who must obey him as they would God and ask 
no questions. The king was responsible to God alone, to whom 
he owed his powers, not to Parliament or the nation. These 
notions were supposed to be based on the teachings of the Bible. 

It is unnecessary to follow the troubles between James I and 
Parliament, for his reign only forms the preliminary to the fatal 
experiences of his son, Charles I, who came to the throne in 1625, 

829. Great Writers of James's Reign — Shakespeare, Bacon, 
Harvey. The writers of James's reign constituted its chief glory. 
They outshone those of any other European country. Shake- 
speare is generally admitted to be the greatest dramatist that the 
world has produced. While he wrote many of his plays before the 
ileath of Elizabeth, some of his finest — Othello, King Lear, and 
The Tempest, for example — belong to the time of James I. 

During the same period Francis Bacon (§ 823) was writing his 
Advancement of Learning, which he dedicated to James I in 1605 
and in which he urged that men should cease to rely upon the 
old textbooks, like Aristotle, and turn to a careful examination 
of animals, plants, and chemicals, with a view of learning about 
them and using the knowledge thus gained to improve the con- 
dition of mankind. Bacon's ability to write English is equal to 
that of Shakespeare, but he chose to write prose, not verse. It 
was in James's reign that the authorized English translation of 
the Bible was made which is still used in all countries where 
English is spoken. This was based on earlier translations made 
by Wycliffe (§ 637) and in the time of Henry VIII (§ 763). 

An English physician of this period, William Harvey, examined 
the workings of the human body more carefully than any previous 
investigator and made the great discovery of the manner in which 
ihe blood circulates from the heart through the arteries and 
capillaries and back through the veins — a matter which had pre- 
viously been entirely misunderstood. This discovery made a deep 
impression on Descartes, the great French philosopher (§822), 
who speaks of it in his Essay on Method as a fine example of 
what careful scientific . study might accomplish. 



568 History of Europe 

II. How Charles I got along without Parliament 

830. Charles I (1625-I649). Charles I, James I's son and suc- 
cessor, was somewhat more dignified than his father, but he was 
quite as obstinately set upon having his own way and showed no 
more skill in winning the confidence of his subjects. He did noth- 
ing to remove the disagreeable impressions of his father's reign 
and began immediately to quarrel with Parliament. When that 
body refused to grant him funds, mainly because they thought 
that these were likely to be wasted by his favorite, the duke of 
Buckingham, Charles attempted to raise money in irregular ways 
without the permission of Parliament. 

The law prohibited him from asking for gifts from his people, 
but it did not forbid his asking them to lend him money, however 
little prospect there might be of his ever repaying it. Five gentle- 
men who refused to pay such a forced loan were imprisoned 
by the. mere order of the king. This raised the question of 
whether the king had the right to send to prison those whom he 
wished without any legal reasons for their arrest. 

831. The Petition of Right. This and other attacks upon the 
rights of his subjects aroused Parliament. In 1628 that body 
drew up the celebrated Petition of Right, which is one of the most 
important documents in the history of the English Constitution. 
In it Parliament called the king's attention to his unlawful ex- 
actions and to the acts of his agents who had in sundry ways 
molested and disquieted the people of the realm. Parliament 
therefore "humbly prayed" the king that no man need thereafter 
"make or yield any gift, loan, benevolence, tax, or such like 
charge " without consent of Parliament ; that no free man should 
be imprisoned or suffer any punishment except according to the 
laws and statutes of the realm as presented in the Great 
Charter (§§ 553-555) ; and that soldiers should not be quartered 
upon the people on any pretext whatever. Very reluctantly 
Charles consented to this restatement of the limitations which the 
English had always, in theory at least, placed upon the power of 
their king. 



Struggle in England between King and Parliament 569 



The disagreement between Charles and Parliament was rendered 
much more serious by religious differences. The king had married 
a French Catholic princess, and the Catholic cause seemed to be 
gaining on the Continent. The king 
of Denmark had just been defeated 
oy Wallenstein and Tilly (§ 808), 
and Richelieu had succeeded in de- 
priving the Huguenots of their cities 
of refuge. Both James I and Charles I 
had shown their readiness to enter 
into agreements with France and 
Spain to protect Catholics in Eng- 
land, and there was evidently a grow- 
ing inclination in England to revert 
to the older ceremonies of the 
Church, which shocked the more 
itrongly Protestant members of the 
House of Commons. The communion 
table was again placed by many 
clergymen at the eastern end of the 
church and became fixed there as an 
altar, and portions of the service were 
Dnce more chanted. 

832. Charles dissolves Parlia- 
ment (i629) and determines to rule 
by himself. These "popish prac- 
tices" (as the more fanatical Protes- 
tants called them ) , with which Charles 
was supposed to sympathize, served 
to widen the breach between him and 
the Commons, which had been caused 
by the king's attempt to raise taxes 

on his own account. The Parliament of 1629, after a stormy 
session, was dissolved by the king, who determined to rule 
thereafter by himself. For eleven years no new Parliament 
was summoned. 




Fig. 146. Charles I of 
England 

This portrait is by one of the 

greatest painters of the time, 

Anthony Van Dyck, 1 599-1641 

(see Fig. 148) 



570 History of Europe 

Charles was not well fitted by nature to run the government 
of England by himself. He had not the necessary tireless energy. 
Moreover, the methods resorted to by his ministers to raise money 
without recourse to Parliament rendered the king more and more 
unpopular and prepared the way for the triumphant return of 
Parliament. For example, Charles applied to his subjects for 
"ship money." He was anxious to equip a fleet, but instead of 
requiring the various ports to furnish ships, as was the ancient 
custom, he permitted them to buy themselves off by contributing 
money to the fitting out of large ships owned by himself. Even 
those living inland were asked for ship money. The king main- 
tained that this was not a tax but simply a payment by which 
his subjects freed themselves from the duty of defending their 
country. 

883. John Hampden ; William Laud. John Hampden, a 
squire of Buckinghamshire, made a bold stand against this illegal 
demand by refusing to pay twenty shillings of ship money which 
was levied upon him. The case was tried before the king's judges, 
and he was convicted, but by a bare majority. The trial made 
it tolerably clear that the country would not put up long with 
the king's despotic policy. 

In 1633 Charles made William Laud archbishop of Canterbury. 
Laud declared that it was the part of good citizenship to conform 
outwardly to the services of the state church, but that everyone 
should be free to make up his own mind in regard to the inter- 
pretation to be given to the Bible. As soon as he became arch- 
bishop he began a series of visitations through his province. Every 
clergyman who refused to conform to the prayer book, or opposed 
the placing of the communion table at the east end of the church, 
or declined to bow at the name of Jesus, was, if obstinate, to be 
brought before the king's special Court of High Commission to 
be tried and, if convicted, to be deprived of his position. 

834. The Different Sects of Protestants — High Church and 
Low Church. Laud's conduct was no doubt gratifying to the 
High Church party among the Protestants ; that is, those who still 
clung to some of the ancient practices of the Roman Church, 




Struggle in England between King and Parliament 571 

although they rejected the doctrine of the Mass and refused to 
regard the Pope as their head. The Low Church party, or 
Puritans, on the contrary, regarded Laud and his policy with 
aversion. While, unlike the Presbyterians, they did not urge 
the abolition of the bishops, they disliked all "superstitious 




Fig. 147. John Hampden 



usages," as they called the wearing of the surplice by the clergy, 
the use of the sign of the cross at baptism, the kneeling posture 
in partaking of the communion, and so forth. The Presbyterians, 
who are often confused with the Puritans, agreed with them in 
many respects, but went farther and demanded the introduction 
of Calvin's system of church government, 



572 History of Europe 

835. The Independents. Lastly, there was an ever-increasing 
number of Separatists, or Independents. These rejected both the 
organization of the Church of England and that of the Presby- 
terians, and desired that each religious community should or- 
ganize itself independently. The government had forbidden these 
Separatists to hold their little meetings, which they called con- 
venticles, and about 1600 some of them fled to Holland. 

836. The Pilgrim Fathers. The community of them which 
established itself at Leyden dispatched the Mayflower, in 1620, 
with colonists — since known as the Pilgrim Fathers — to the New 
World across the sea.^ It was these colonists who laid the founda- 
tions of a New England which has proved a worthy offspring of 
the mother country. The form of worship which they established 
in their new home is still known as Congregational. 

III. How Charles I lost his Head 

837. Charles I's Quarrel with the Scotch Presbyterians. 
In 1640 Charles found himself forced to summon Parliament, 
for he was involved in a war with Scotland which he could not 
carry on without money. There the Presbyterian system had been 
pretty generally introduced by John Knox in Elizabeth's time 
(see §798). An attempt on the part of Charles to force the 
Scots to accept a modified form of the English prayer book led 
to the signing of the National Covenant in 1638. This pledged 
those who attached their names to it to reestablish the purity and 
liberty of the Gospel, which, to most of the Covenanters, meant 
Presbyterianism. 

838. The Long Parliament (i64o). Charles thereupon under- 
took to coerce the Scots. Having no money, he bought on credit a 
large cargo of pepper, which had just arrived in the ships of the 
East India Company, and sold it cheap for ready cash. The sol- 
diers, however, whom he got together showed little inclination to 

1 The name '• Puritan," it should be noted, was applied loosely to the English 
Protestants, whether Low Churchmen, Presbyterians, or Independents, who aroused 
the antagonism of their neighbors by advocating a godly life and opposing popular 
pastimes, especially on Sunday. 



Struggle in England between King and Parliament 573 

fight the Scots, with whom they were in tolerable agreement on 
religious matters. Charles was therefore at last obliged to sum- 
mon a Parliament, which, owing to the length of time it remained 
in session, is known as the Long Parliament. 

The Long Parliament began by imprisoning Archbishop Laud 
in the Tower of London. They declared him guilty of treason, 



1 : 

i 


J 


w 




.. _ ^ 




i9r ^ 


W' 


^ 




^L W 


dtfiP#^ 


fc^ 


TFj^ 




Jh^ 


i^^mr^T^^^: ., -^ 


^H^ 


-^m * 


Jk. % 


fwi^^% 


F ' $-^' 


7? 


m*^ 


•^ > \[!^a 


''^IM^ w'^ 


# ^1 


*■ ^ A 


■L.-^- 


nM 


■■Pk' V^ 


w 


.. 4 .. 


^^ 


^^^1 


m^~ 


A- ' ' 


'A 


^ 

J 


kl^ 


n-^yMtM 


V 


w 


.•■^ 




F'^^^H 


f 


f 




r 




m 




tv 


^jBP^^^^ 


^ 


M^ 




■ 'i 



Fig. 148. Children of Charles I 

This very interesting picture, by the Flemish artist Van Dyck, was painted 
in 1637. The boy with his hand on the dog's head was destined to become 
Charles II of England. Next on the left is the prince who was later James II. 
The girl to the extreme left, the Princess Mary, married the governor of the 
United Netherlands, and her son became William III of England in 1688 (see 
below, § 853). The two princesses on the right died in childhood 



and he was executed in 1645, in spite of Charles's efforts to save 
him. Parliament also tried to strengthen its position by passing 
the Triennial Bill, which provided that it should meet at least 
once in three years, even if not summoned by the king. In fact, 
Charles's whole system of government was done away with. 
Parliament drew up a "Grand Remonstrance," in which all of 
Charles's errors were enumerated and a demand was made that 



574 History of Europe 

the king's ministers should thereafter be responsible to Parlia- 
ment. This document Parliament ordered to be printed and 
circulated throughout the country. 

Exasperated at the conduct of the Commons, Charles at- 
tempted to intimidate the opposition by undertaking to arrest 
five of its most active leaders, whom he declared to be traitors. 
But when he entered the House of Commons and looked around 
for his enemies, he found that they had taken shelter in London, 
whose citizens later brought them back in triumph to Westminster, 
where Parliament held its meetings. 

839. The Beginning of Civil War (1642) ; Cavaliers and 
Roundheads. Both Charles and Parliament now began to gather 
troops for the inevitable conflict, and England was plunged into 
civil war. Those who supported Charles were called Cavaliers. 
They included not only most of the aristocracy and the Catholic 
party but also a number of members of the House of Commons 
who were fearful lest Presbyterianism should succeed in doing 
away with the English Church. The parliamentary party was 
popularly known as the Roundheads, since some of them cropped 
their hair close because of their dislike for the long locks of their 
more aristocratic and worldly opponents. The Cavaliers in turn 
scorned the Roundheads as a set of hypocrites, on account of their 
solemn ways and for liking to go to meeting and singing psalms 
instead of trying to have a good time. 

840. Oliver Cromwell ; Defeat of Charles's Armies at 
Marston Moor and Naseby. The Roundheads soon found a dis- 
tinguished leader in Oliver Cromwell (b. 1599), a country gentle- 
man and member of Parliament, who was later to become the most 
powerful ruler of his time. Cromwell organized a compact army 
of God-fearing men, who were not permitted to indulge in pro- 
fane words or light talk, as is the wont of soldiers, but advanced 
upon their enemies singing psalms. The king enjoyed the sup- 
port of northern England and also looked for help from Ireland, 
where the royal and Catholic causes were popular. 

The war continued for several years, and a number of battles 
were fought which, after the first year, went in general against 



Struggle in England between King and Parliament 575 

the Cavaliers. The most important of these were the battle of 
Marston Moor in 1644 and that of Naseby the next year, in 
which the king was disastrously defeated. The enemy came into 
possession of his correspondence, which showed them how their 
king had been endeavoring to bring armies from France and 
Ireland into England. This encouraged Parliament to prosecute 
the war with more energy than ever. The king, defeated on every 
hand, put himself in the hands of the Scotch army which had 
come to the aid of Parliament (1646), and the Scotch soon turned 
him over to Parliament. During the next two years Charles was 
held in captivity. 

841. Pride's Purge. There were, however, many in the House 
of Commons who still sided with the king, and in December, 1648, 
that body declared for a reconciliation with the monarch, whom 
they had safely imprisoned in the Isle of Wight. The next day 
Colonel Pride, representing the army, — which constituted a party 
in itself and was opposed to all negotiations between the king and 
the Commons, — stood at the door of the House with a body of 
soldiers and excluded all the members who were known to take 
the side of the king. This outrageous act is known in history as 
"Pride's Purge." 

842. Execution of Charles (1649). In this way the House of 
Commons was brought completely under the control of those most 
bitterly hostile to the king, whom they immediately proposed to 
bring to trial. They declared that the House of Commons, since 
it was chosen by the people, was supreme in England and the 
source of all just power, and that consequently neither king nor 
House of Lords was necessary. The mutilated House of Com- 
mons appointed a special High Court of Justice made up of 
Charles's sternest opponents, who alone would consent to sit 
in judgment on him. They passed sentence upon him, and on 
January 30, 1649, Charles was beheaded in front of his palace of 
Whitehall, London. It must be clear from the above account that 
it was not the nation at large which demanded Charles's death, 
but a very small group of extremists who claimed to be the repre- 
sentatives of the nation. 



576 History of Europe 

IV. Oliver Cromwell : England a Commonwealth 

843. England becomes a Commonwealth, or Republic. The 
''Rump Parliament," as the remnant of the House of Commons 
was contemptuously called, proclaimed England to be thereafter' 
a "commonwealth" ; that is, a republic, without a king or House 
of Lords. But Cromwell, the head of the army, was nevertheless 
the real ruler of England. He derived his main support from the 
Independents ; and it is very surprising that he was able to main- 
tain himself so long, considering what a small portion of the 
English people was in sympathy with the religious ideas of that 
sect and with the abolition of kingship. Even the Presbyterians 
were on the side of Charles I's son, Charles II, the legal heir to 
the throne. Cromwell was a vigorous and skillful administrator 
and had a well-organized army of fifty thousand men at his com 
mand, otherwise the republic could scarcely have lasted more than 
a few months. 

844. Ireland and Scotland Subdued. Cromwell found himself 
confronted by every variety of difficulty. The three kingdoms 
had fallen apart. The nobles and Catholics in Ireland proclaimed 
Charles II as king, and Ormond, a Protestant leader; formed an 
army of Irish Catholics and English royalist Protestants with a 
view of overthrowing the Commonwealth. Cromwell accordingly 
set out for Ireland, where, after taking Drogheda, he mercilessly 
slaughtered two thousand of the "barbarous wretches," as he 
called them. Town after town surrendered to Cromwell's army, 
and in 1652, after much cruelty, the island was once more con- 
quered. A large part of it was confiscated for the benefit of the 
English, and the Catholic landowners were driven into the mouiv 
tains. In the meantime (1650) Charles II, who had taken refuge 
in France, had landed in Scotland, and upon his agreeing to be a 
Presbyterian king the whole Scotch nation was ready to support 
him. But Scotland was subdued by Cromwell even more promptl) 
than Ireland had been. So completely was the Scottish army 
destroyed that Cromwell found no need to draw the sword again 
in the British Isles. 



Struggle in England between King and Parliament 577 

845. The Navigation Act (i65i). Although it would seem that 
Cromwell had enough to keep him busy at home, he had already 
engaged in a victorious foreign war against the Dutch, who had 
become dangerous commercial rivals of England. The ships which 
went out from Amsterdam and Rotterdam were the best merchant 
vessels in the world and had got control of the carrying trade 




Fig. 149. Oliver Cromwell 
This portrait is by Peter Lely and was painted in 1653 

between Europe and the colonies. In order to put an end to this, 
the English Parliament passed the Navigation Act (1651), which 
permitted only English vessels to bring goods to England, unless 
the goods came in vessels belonging to the country which had pro- 
duced them. This led to a commercial war between Holland and 
England, and a series of battles was fought between the English 
and Dutch fleets with indecisive results. This war is notable as 
the first example of the commercial struggles which were thereafter 
to take the place of the religious conflicts of the preceding period. 



578 History of Europe 

846. Cromwell dissolves the Long Parliament (i653) and is 
made Lord Protector. Cromwell failed to get along with Parlia- 
ment any better than Charles I had done. The Rump Parliament 
had become very unpopular, for its members, in spite of their 




Fig. I 50. Great Seal of England under the 
Commonwealth, 1651 

This seal is reduced considerably in the reproduction. It gives us an idea of 

the appearance of a session of the House of Commons when England was for 

a short period a republic. It is still to-day the custom for members to sit with 

their hats on, except when making a speech 

boasted piety, accepted bribes and were zealous in the promotion 
of their relatives in the public service. At last Cromwell upbraided 
them angrily for their injustice and self-interest, which were in- 
juring the public cause. On being interrupted by a member, he 



Struggle in England between King and Parliament 579 

Ci-ied out, "Come, come, we have had enough of this? I'll put 
:u\ end to this. It's not fit that you should sit here any longer," 
and calling in his soldiers he turned the members out of the House 
ciid sent them home. Having thus made an end of the Long 
Parliament (April, 1653), he summoned a Parliament of his own, 




Fig. 151. Dutch War Vessel in Cromwell's Time 

i'his vessel should be compared with the ship in Fig. 152 to realize the change 
that had taken place in navigation since the palmy days of the Hanseatic 

League. (See above, § 654) 



made up of "God-fearing" men whom he and the officers of his 
army chose. This extraordinary body is known as Barebone's 
Parliament, from a distinguished member, a London merchant, 
with the characteristically Puritan name of Praisegod Barebone. 
Many of these godly men were unpractical and hard to deal with. 



58o 



History of Europe 



A minority of the more sensible ones got up early one winter 
morning (December, 1653) a^nd, before their opponents had a 
chance to protest, declared Parliament dissolved and placed the 
supreme authority in the hands of Cromwell. 

847. The Protector's Foreign Policy. For nearly five years 
Cromwell was, as Lord Protector, — a title equivalent to that of 
Regent, — practically king of England, although he refused ac- 
tually to accept the royal 
insignia. He did not suc- 
ceed in permanently organiz- 
ing the government at home, 
but he showed remarkable 
ability in his foreign negotia- 
tions. He promptly formed an 
alliance with France, and 
English troops aided the 
French in winning a great 
victory over Spain. England 
gained thereby Dunkirk and 
the West Indian island of 
Jamaica. The French king, 
Louis XIV, at first hesitated 
to address Cromwell, in the 
usual courteous way of 
monarchs, as "my cousin," 
but soon admitted that he 
would have even to call 
Cromwell " father " should 

the English ruler wish it, as the Protector was undoubtedly the 
most powerful person in Europe. Indeed, Cromwell found himself 
forced to play the part of a monarch, and it seemed to many 
persons that he was quite as despotic as James I and Charles I. 

848. Cromwell's Death (less). In May, 1658, Cromwell fell 
ill, and as a great storm passed over England at that time, the 
Cavaliers asserted that the devil had come to fetch home the 
soul of the usurper. Cromwell was dying, it is true, but he was 




Fig. 152. Ship such as was used in 
THE Time of the Hanseatic League 

This is taken from a picture at Cologne, 
painted in 1409. It, as well as other pic- 
tures of the time, makes it clear that the 
Hanseatic ships were tiny compared with 
those used two hundred and fifty years 
later, when Cromwell fought the Dutch 



Struggle in England between King and Parliament 581 

no instrument of the devil. He closed a life of honest effort for 
his fellow beings with a last touching prayer to God, whom he 
had consistently sought to serve : " Thou hast made me, though 
very unworthy, a mean instrument to do Thy people some good 
and Thee service : and many of them have set too high a value 
upon me, though others wish and would be glad of my death. 
Pardon such as desire to trample upon the dust of a poor worm, 
for they are Thy people too ; and pardon the folly of this short 
prayer, even for Jesus Christ's sake, and give us a good night, 
if it be Thy pleasure. Amen." 

V. The Restoration 

849. The Restoration : Charles II. After Cromwell's death 
his son Richard, who succeeded him, found himself unable to 
carry on the government. He soon abdicated, and the remnants 
of the Long Parliament met once more. But the power was really 
in the hands of the soldiers. In 1660 George Monk, who was in 
command of the forces in Scotland, came to London with a view 
of putting an end to the anarchy. He soon concluded that no 
one cared to support the Rump, and that body peacefully dis- 
banded of its own accord. Resistance would have been vain 
in any case with the army against it. The nation was glad to 
acknowledge Charles II, whom everyone preferred to a govern- 
ment by soldiers. A new Parliament, composed of both houses, 
was assembled, which welcomed a messenger from the king and 
solemnly resolved that, " according to the ancient and funda- 
mental laws of this kingdom, the government is, and ought to be, 
by king, lords, and commons." Thus the Puritan revolution and the 
short-lived republic were followed by the Restoration of the Stuarts. 

Charles II was quite as fond as his father of having his own 
way, but he was a man of more ability. He disliked to be ruled 
by Parliament, but, unlike his father, he was too wise to arouse 
the nation against him. He did not propose to let anything 
happen which would send him on his travels again. He and his 
courtiers led a gay life in sharp contrast to the Puritan ideas..' 



582 History of Europe 

850. Religious Measures adopted by Parliament. Charles's 
first Parliament was a moderate body, but his second was made 
up almost wholly of Cavaliers, and it got along, on the whole, so 
well with the king that he did not dissolve it for eighteen years. 
It did not take up the old question, which was still unsettled, as 
to whether Parliament or the king was really supreme. It showed 
its hostility, however, to the Puritans by a series of intolerant 
acts, which are very important in English history. An effort was 
made to exclude Presbyterians and Independents from town 
offices. By the Act of Uniformity (1662) any clergyman who 
refused to accept everything in the Book of Common Prayer 
was to be excluded from holding his benefice. That many dis- 
agreed with the Anglican Church is shown by the fact that 
two thousand clergymen thereupon resigned their positions for 
conscience' sake. 

These laws tended to throw all those Protestants who refused 
to conform to the Church of England into a single class, still 
known to-day as Dissenters. It included the Independents, the 
Presbyterians, and the newer bodies of the Baptists and the Society 
of Friends (commonly known as Quakers). These sects abandoned 
any idea of controlling the religion or politics of the country 
and asked only that they might be permitted to worship in their 
own way outside of the English Church. 

851. Toleration favored by the King ; opposed by Parlia- 
ment. Toleration found an unexpected ally in the king, who, in 
spite of bis dissolute habits, had interest enough in religion to 
have secret leanings toward Catholicism. He asked Parliament 
to permit him to moderate the rigor of the Act of Uniformity 
by making some exceptions. He even issued a declaration in the 
interest of toleration, with a view of bettering the position of 
the Catholics and Dissenters. Suspicion was, however, aroused 
lest this toleration might lead to the restoration of "popery," — 
as the Protestants called the Catholic beliefs, — and Parliament 
passed the harsh Conventicle Act (1664). Any adult attending 
a conventicle — that is to say, any religious meeting not held 
in accordance with the rules of the English Church — was liable 



Struggle in England between King and Parliament 583 

to penalties which might culminate in deportation to some dis- 
tant colony. Nevertheless, a few years later Charles II issued a 
declaration giving complete religious liberty to Roman Catholics as 
well as to Dissenters. Parliament not only forced him to withdraw 
this enlightened measure but passed the Test Act, which excluded 
everyone from public office who did not accept the views of the 
English Church and who would not take the communion according 
to its usage. This law excluding all but adherents of the English 
Church from office remained in force down into the nineteenth 
century. 

852. War with Holland. The old war with Holland, begun 
by Cromwell, was renewed under Charles II, who was earnestly 
desirous to increase English commerce and to found new colonies. 
The two nations were very evenly matched on the sea, but in 1664 
the English seized some of the West Indian Islands from the 
Dutch. And what was of much greater importance the English 
captured the Dutch settlement on Manhattan Island, which was 
renamed New York in honor of the king's brother, the Duke of 
York. In 1667 a treaty was signed by England and Holland 
which confirmed these conquests. 

VI. The Revolution of 1688 

853. James II (less-iess). Upon Charles H's death he was 
succeeded by his brother, James II, who was an avowed Catholic 
and had married, as his second wife, Mary of Modena, who was 
also a Catholic. He was a far more earnest man than the late 
king and was ready to reestablish Catholicism in England regard- 
less of what it might cost him. Mary, James's daughter by his 
first wife, had married her cousin, William III, Prince of Orange, 
the head of the United Netherlands, as Holland was called. The 
English nation might have tolerated James so long as they could 
look forward to the accession of his Protestant daughter. But 
when a son was born to his Catholic second wife, and James 
showed unmistakably his purpose of favoring the Catholics, mes- 
sengers were dispatched by a group of Protestants to William of 
Orange, asking him to come and rule over them. 



584 History of Europe 

854. The Revolution of 1688 and the Accession of Wil- 
liam III (1688-1702 ). William landed in November, 1688, and 
marched upon London, where he received general support from 
all the English Protestants, regardless of party. James II started 
to oppose William, but his army refused to fight and his courtiers 
deserted him. William was glad to forward James's flight to 
France, as he would hardly have known what to do with him had 
James insisted on remaining in the country. A new Parliament 
declared the throne vacant, on the ground that King James 11,^ 
"by the advice of the Jesuits and other wicked persons, having 
violated the fundamental laws and withdrawn himself out of the 
kingdom, had abdicated the government." 

855. The Bill of Rights (lesQ). A Bill of Rights was then 
drawn up, condemning James's violation of the constitution and 
appointing William and Mary joint sovereigns. The Bill of 
Rights, which is an important monument in English constitutional 
history, once more stated the fundamental rights of the English 
nation and the limitations which the Petition of Right and the 
Great Charter of King John had placed upon the king. By this 
peaceful revolution of 1688 the English rid themselves of the 
Stuarts and their claims to rule by divine right ; the rights of 
Parliament were once more asserted, and the Catholic question 
was practically settled by the dethroning of a king who openly 
favored the rule of the Pope. 

The Toleration Act was passed by Parliament, which freed 
Dissenters from all penalties for failing to attend services in 
Anglican churches and allowed them to have their own meetings. 
Even Catholics, while not included in the act of toleration, were 
permitted to hold services undisturbed by the government. 

1 Charles I, m. Henrietta Maria of France 
(1625-1649) I 



Charles II Mary, m. William 1 1 Anne Hyde, m. James II, m. Mary of Modena 
(1660-1685) Prince of 1(1685-1688) 

Orange 

William 1 1 1, m. Mary Anne James Francis Edward, 

(168S-1702) (1702-1714) the Old Pretender 



Struggle in England between King and Parliament 585 

QUESTIONS 

I. What was the great issue during the period of the Stuarts ? 
What were the views of kingship held by James I ? Mention some 
of the books of his time. 

II. What poHcy did Charles I adopt in regard to Parliament ? 
What was the Petition of Right ? What were the chief religious parties 
in England in the time of Charles I ? Who was John Hampden ? 
Mention some of the religious sects that date from that time which still 
exist in the United States. 

III. What measures did the Long Parliament take against the king ? 
Describe the civil war. What led to the execution of Charles I ? 

IV. What were the chief events during Cromwell's administration ? 
What are your impressions of Cromwell ? 

V. What led to the restoration of the Stuarts ? What was the 
attitude of Charles II toward the religious difficulties ? Who were the 
Dissenters ? What laws were passed in regard to them ? 

VI. Why was James II unpopular ? Give an account of the revo- 
lution which put William and Mary on the English throne. What 
important acts were passed after the accession of William and Mary ? 



CHAPTER XXXVI 
FRANCE UNDER LOUIS XIV 

I. Position and Character of Louis XIV 

856. France at the Accession of Louis XIV. Under the 
despotic rule of Louis XIV (i 643-1 71 5) France enjoyed a com- 
manding influence in European affairs. After the wars of religion 
were over, the royal authority had been reestablished by the wise 
conduct of Henry IV. Later, Richelieu had solidified the mon- 
archy by depriving the Huguenots of the exceptional privileges 
granted to them for their protection by Henry IV ; he had also 
destroyed the fortified castles of the nobles, whose power had 
greatly increased during the turmoil of the Huguenot wars. His 
successor, Cardinal Mazarin, who conducted the government 
during Louis XIV 's boyhood, was able to put down a last rising 
of the discontented nobility. 

857. What Richelieu and Mazarin had done for the French 
Monarchy. When Mazarin died, in 1661, he left the young 
monarch with a kingdom such as no previous French king had 
enjoyed. The nobles, who for centuries had disputed the power 
with the king, were no longer feudal lords but only courtiers. The 
Huguenots, whose claim to a place in the State beside the Catho- 
lics had led to the terrible civil wars of the sixteenth century, were 
reduced in numbers and no longer held fortified towns from which 
they could defy the king's officers. Richelieu and Mazarin had 
successfully taken a hand in the Thirty Years' War, and France 
had come out of it with enlarged territory and increased impor- 
tance in European affairs. 

858. The Government of Louis XIV. Louis XIV carried the 
work of these great ministers still farther. He gave that form to 
the French monarchy which it retained until the French Revo- 
lution. He made himself the very mirror of kingship. His 

586 



France under Louis XIV 



587 



marvelous court at Versailles became the model and the de- 
spair of other less rich and powerful princes, who accepted 
his theory of the absolute power of kings but could not afford 
to imitate his luxury. By his incessant wars he kept Europe in 
turmoil for over half a century. The distinguished generals who 
led his newly organized troops, and the wily diplomats who ar- 
ranged his alliances and negotiated his treaties, made France 
feared and respected 
by even the most 
powerful of the other 
European states. 

859. The Theory 
of the "Divine Right 
of Kings " in France. 
Louis XIV had the 
same idea of kingship 
that James I had tried 
in vain to induce the 
English people to ac- 
cept (§§ 827-828). 
God had given kings 
to men, and it was 
His will that monarchs 
should be regarded as 
His lieutenants and 
that all those subject to them should obey them absolutely, 
without asking any questions or making any criticisms ; for in sub- 
mitting to their prince they were really submitting to God Him- 
self. If the king were good and wise, his subjects should thank 
the Lord ; if he proved foolish, cruel, or perverse, they must 
accept their evil ruler as a well-deserved and just punishment 
which God had sent them for their sins. But in no case might 
they limit his power or rise against him.^ 




Fig. 153. Louis XIV 



1 Louis XIV does not appear to have himself used the famous expression "/ am 
the State," usually attributed to him, but it exactly corresponds to his idea of the relation 
of the king and the State. 



588 



History of Europe 



860. Different Attitude of English and French toward Ab 
solute Monarchy. Louis XIV had two great advantages ove; 
James I. In the first place, the English nation has always shown 
itself far more reluctant than France to place absolute power in 
the hands of its rulers. By its Parliament, its courts, and it^ 
various declarations of the nation's rights, it had built up tradition^ 
which made it impossible for the Stuarts to establish their claim 
to be absolute rulers. In France, on the other hand, there was 
no Great Charter or Bill of Rights ; the Estates General did not 




Fig. 154. Facade of the Palace of Versailles 



hold the purse strings (§566), and the king was permitted to 
raise money without asking their permission or previously re- 
dressing the grievances which they chose to point out. They were 
therefore only summoned at irregular intervals. When Louis XIV 
took charge of the government, forty-seven years had passed with- 
out a meeting of the Estates General, and a century and a quarter 
was still to elapse before another call to the representatives of the 
nation was issued, in 1789. 

Moreover, the French people placed far more reliance upon 
a powerful king than the English, perhaps because they were 
not protected by the sea from their neighbors, as England was 
On every side France had enemies ready to take advantage ot 
any weakness or hesitation which might arise from dissensioi 



France under Louis XIV 589 

between a parliament and the king. So the French felt it best, 
on the whole, to leave all in the king's hands, even if the nation 
suffered at times from his tyranny. 

861. Personal Characteristics of Louis XIV. Louis had 
another great advantage over James. He was a handsome man, 
of elegant and courtly mien and the most exquisite perfection 
of manner ; even when playing billiards he is said to have retained 
an air of world mastery. The first of the Stuarts, on the contrary, 
was a very awkward man, whose slouching gait, intolerable man- 
ners, and pedantic conversation were utterly at variance with his 
lofty pretensions. Louis added, moreover, to his graceful exterior 
a sound judgment and quick apprehension. He said neither too 
much nor too little. He was, for a king, a hard worker and spent 
several hours a day attending to the business of government. 

862. The Strenuous Life of a Despotic Ruler. It requires, 
in fact, a great deal of energy and application to be a real despot. 
In order thoroughly to understand and to solve the problems which 
constantly face the ruler of a great state, a monarch must, like 
Frederick the Great or Napoleon, rise early and toil late. Louis 
XIV was greatly aided by the able ministers who sat in his coun- 
cil, but he always retained for himself the place of first minister. 
He would never have consented to be dominated by an adviser, 
as his father had been by Richelieu. " The profession of the king," 
he declared, " is great, noble, and delightful if one but feels equal 
to performing the duties which it involves," — and he never har- 
bored a doubt that he himself was born for the business. 

IL How Louis encouraged Art and Literature 

863. The King's Palace at Versailles. Louis XIV was care- 
ful that his surroundings should suit the grandeur of his office. 
His court was magnificent beyond anything that had been dreamed 
of in the West. He had an enormous palace constructed at Ver- 
sailles, just outside of Paris, with interminable halls and apart- 
ments and a vast garden stretching away behind it. About this 
a town was laid out, where those lived who were privileged to be 



590 



History of Europe 



near his Majesty or supply the wants of the royal court. This 
palace and its outlying buildings, including two or three less 
gorgeous residences for the king when he occasionally tired of the 
ceremony of Versailles, probably cost the nation about a hundred 
million dollars, in spite of the fact that thousands of peasants 
and soldiers were forced to turn to and work without pay. The 
furnishings and decorations were as rich and costly as the palace 
was splendid, and still fill the visitor with wonder. For over a 




Fig. 155. One of the Vast Halls of Versailles 



century this magnificent " chateau " at Versailles continued to be 
the home of the French kings and the seat of their government. 
864. Life at Louis XIV's Court. This splendor and luxury 
helped to attract the nobility, who no longer lived on their estates 
in well-fortified castles, planning how they might escape the 
royal control. They now dwelt in the effulgence of the king's 
countenance. They saw him to bed at night and in stately pro- 
cession they greeted him in the morning. It was deemed a high 
honor to hand him his shirt as he was being dressed or, at dinner, 
to provide him with a fresh napkin. Only by living close to th( 
king could the courtiers hope to gain favors, pensions, and lu- 
crative offices for themselves and their friends, and perhaps 



France under Louis XIV 591 

occasionally to exercise some little influence upon the policy of 
the government. For they were now entirely dependent upon the 
good will of their monarch. 

865. The Reforms of Colbert. The reforms which Louis XIV 
carried out in the earlier part of his reign were largely the work 
of the great financier Colbert, to whom France still looks back 
with gratitude. He early discovered that the king's officials were 
stealing and wasting vast sums. The offenders were arrested and 
forced to disgorge, and a new system of bookkeeping was intro- 
duced, similar to that employed by business men. He then turned 
his attention to increasing the manufactures of France by estab- 
lishing new industries and seeing that the older ones kept to a 
high standard, which would make French goods sell readily in 
foreign markets. 

866, Art and Literature in the Reign of Louis XIV. It was, 
however, as a patron of art and literature that Louis XIV gained 
rpuch of his celebrity. Moliere, -who was at once a playwright 
and an actor, delighted the court with comedies in which he deli- 
cately satirized the foibles of his time. Corneille, who had gained 
renown by the great tragedy of The Cid in Richelieu's time, found 
a worthy successor in Racine, the most distinguished, perhaps, of 
French tragic poets. The charming letters of Madame de Sevigne 
are models of prose style and serve at the same time to give us 
a glimpse into the more refined life of the court circle. In the 
famous memoirs of Saint-Simon the weaknesses of the king, as 
well as the numberless intrigues of the courtiers, are freely exposed 
with inimitable skill and wit. 

Men of letters were generously aided by the king with pensions. 
Colbert encouraged the French Academy, which had been created 
by Richelieu. This body gave special attention to making the 
French tongue more eloquent and expressive by determining what 
words should be used. It is now the greatest honor that a French- 
man can obtain to be made one of the forty members of this 
association. A magazine which still exists, the Journal des Savants, 
was founded for the promotion of science at this time. Colbert 
had an astronomical observatory built at Paris ; and the Royal 



592 History of Europe 

Library, which possessed only about sixteen thousand volumes, 
began to grow into that great collection of two and a half million 
volumes — by far the largest in existence — which to-day attracts 
scholars to Paris from all parts of the world. In short, Louis XIV 
and his ministers believed one of the chief objects of any govern- 
ment to be the promotion of art, literature, and science, and the 
example they set has been followed by almost every modern state. 

III. Louis XIV attacks his Neighbors 

867. Louis XIV's Warlike Enterprises. Unfortunately for 
France, the king's ambitions were by no means exclusively peace- 
ful. Indeed, he regarded his wars as his chief glory. He em- 
ployed a carefully reorganized army and the skill of his generals 
in a series of inexcusable attacks on his neighbors, in which he 
finally squandered all that Colbert's economies had accumulated 
and led France to the edge of financial ruin. 

Louis XIV's predecessors had had, on the whole, little time 
to think of conquest. They had first to consolidate their realms 
and gain the mastery of their feudal dependents, who shared the 
power with them ; then the claims of the English Edwards and 
Henrys had to be met, and the French provinces freed from their 
clutches ; lastly, the great religious dispute was settled only afte; 
many years of disintegrating civil war. 

Louis XIV was, however, now at liberty to look about hin 
and consider how he might best realize the dream of his ancestor- 
and perhaps reestablish the ancient boundaries which Caesar re- 
ported that the Gauls had occupied. The "natural limits" ot 
France appeared to be the Rhine on the north and east, the Juni 
Mountains and the Alps on the southeast, and to the south th^^ 
Mediterranean and the Pyrenees. Richelieu had believed tha 
it was the chief end of his ministry to restore to France th' 
boupdaries determined for it by nature. Mazarin had labored 
hard to win Savoy and Nice and to reach the Rhine on the 
north. Before his death France at least gained Alsace and 
reached the Pyrenees (§§815-817). 



France under Louis XIV 593 

868. The Invasion of the Netherlands (i667). Louis XIV 
first turned his attention to the conquest of the Spanish Nether- 
lands, to which he laid claim through his wife, the elder sister 
of the Spanish king, Charles II (1665-1700). He easily took a 
number of towns on the border of the Netherlands and then 
turned south and completely conquered Franche-Comte (§814). 
This was an outlying province of Spain, isolated from her other 
lands, and a tempting morsel for the hungry king of France. 

These conquests alarmed Europe, and especially Holland, which 
could not afford to have the barrier between it and France re- 
moved, for Louis XIV would be an uncomfortable neighbor. 
A Triple Alliance, composed of Holland, England, and Sweden, 
was accordingly organized to induce France to make peace with 
Spain. Louis contented himself for the moment with the dozen 
border towns that he had taken and which Spain ceded to him 
on condition that he would return Franche-Comte. 

869. Louis XIV breaks up the Triple Alliance. The suc- 
cess with which Holland had in general held her own against 
the navy of England (§§845 and 852) and then brought the 
proud king of France to a halt produced an elation on the part 
of that tiny country which was very irritating to Louis XIV. 
He was thoroughly vexed that he should have been blocked by 
so trifling an obstacle as Dutch intervention. He consequently 
conceived a strong dislike for the United Provinces, which was 
increased by the protection that they afforded to writers who 
annoyed him with their attacks. He broke up the Triple Alliance 
by inducing Charles II of England to conclude a treaty which 
pledged England to help France in a new war against the Dutch. 

870. Louis XIV's Invasion of Holland (i672). Louis XIV 
then startled Europe again by seizing the duchy of Lorraine, which 
brought him to the border of Holland. At the head of a hundred 
thousand men he crossed the Rhine (1672) and easily conquered 
southern Holland. For the moment the Dutch cause appeared 
to be lost. But William of Orange showed the spirit of his great 
ancestor William the Silent ; the sluices in the dikes were opened 
and the country flooded, so the French army was checked before 



594 History of Europe 

it could take Amsterdam and advance into the north. The em- 
peror sent an army against Louis, and England deserted him and 
made peace with Holland. 

When a general peace was concluded at the end of six years, 
the chief provisions were that Holland should be left intact and 
that France should this time retain Franche-Comte, which had 
been conquered by Louis XIV in person. This bit of the Bur- 
gundian heritage thus became at last a part of France, after 
France and Spain had quarreled over it for a century and a 
half. For the ten years following there was no open war, but 
Louis seized the important free city of Strassburg and made many 
other less conspicuous but equally unwarranted additions to his 
territory. The emperor was unable to do more than protest 
against these outrageous encroachments, for he was fully occupied 
with the Turks, who had just laid siege to Vienna. 

IV. Louis XIV and his Protestant Subjects 

871. Situation of the Huguenots at the Beginning of 
Louis XIV's Reign. Louis XIV exhibited as woeful a want of 
statesmanship in the treatment of his Protestant subjects as in 
the prosecution of disastrous wars. The Huguenots, deprived of 
their former military and political power, had turned to manu- 
facture, trade, and banking ; " as rich as a Huguenot " had become 
a proverb in France. There were perhaps a million of them 
among fifteen million Frenchmen, and they undoubtedly formed 
by far the most thrifty and enterprising part of the nation. The 
Catholic clergy, however, did not cease to urge the complete 
suppression of heresy. 

872. Revocation of the Edict of Nantes and its Results. 
Louis XIV had scarcely taken the reins of government into 
his own hands before the perpetual nagging and injustice to which 
the Protestants had been subjected at all times took a more 
serious form. Upon one pretense or another their churches were 
demolished. Children were authorized to renounce Protestant- 
ism when they reached the age of seven. Rough dragoons were 



France under Louis XIV 595 

quartered upon the Huguenots with the hope that the insulting 
behavior of the soldiers might frighten the heretics into accepting 
the religion of the king. 

At last Louis XIV was led by his officials to believe that prac- 
tically all the Huguenots had been converted by these harsh 
measures. In 1685, therefore, he revoked the Edict of Nantes, and 
the Protestants thereby became outlaws and their ministers sub- 
ject to the death penalty. Thousands of the Huguenots succeeded 
n eluding the vigilance of the royal officials and fled, some to Eng- 
land, some to Prussia, some to America, carrying with them their 
i^kill and industry to strengthen France's rivals. This was the last 
great and terrible example in western Europe of that fierce re- 
ligious intolerance which had produced the Albigensian Crusade, 
the Spanish Inquisition, and the Massacre of St. Bartholomew.- 

873. Louis's Operations in the Rhenish Palatinate. Louis XIV 
now set his heart upon conquering the Palatinate, a Protestant 
land, to which he easily discovered that he had a claim. The 
rumor of his intention and the indignation occasioned in Protes- 
tant countries by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes resulted 
in an alliance against the French king headed by William of 
Orange. Louis speedily justified the suspicions of Europe by 
a frightful devastation of the Palatinate, burning whole towns and 
destroying many castles, including the exceptionally beautiful 

ne of the elector at Heidelberg. Ten years later, however, Louis 
■ greed to a peace which put things back as they were before 
the struggle began. He was preparing for the final and most 
•.mbitious undertaking of his life, which precipitated the longest 
and bloodiest war of all his warlike reign. 

V. War of the Spanish Succession 

874. The Question of the Spanish Succession. The king 
of Spain, Charles II, was childless and brotherless, and Europe 
had long been discussing what would become of his vast realms 
when his sickly existence should come to an end. Louis XIV had 
married one of his sisters, and the emperor, Leopold I, another, 



596 History of Europe 

and these two ambitious rulers had been considering for some 
time how they might divide the Spanish possessions between the 
Bourbons and the Hapsburgs, But when Charles II died, in 1700, 
it was discovered that he had left a will in which he made Louis's 
younger grandson, Philip, the heir to his twenty-two crowns, but 
on the condition that France and Spain should never be united. 

875. Louis's Grandson, Philip, becomes King of Spain. It 
was a weighty question whether Louis XIV should permit his 
grandson to accept this hazardous honor. Should Philip become 
king of Spain, Louis and his family would control all of south- 
western Europe from Holland to Sicily, as well as a great part 
of North and South America. This would mean the establishment 
of an empire more powerful than that of Charles V. It was clear 
that the disinherited emperor and the ever-watchful William of 
Orange, now king of England (§854), would never permit this 
unprecedented extension of French influence. They had already 
shown themselves ready to make great sacrifices in order to 
check far less serious aggressions on the part of the French 
king. Nevertheless, family pride and personal ambition led Louis 
criminally to risk the welfare of his country. He accepted the 
will and informed the Spanish ambassador at the French court 
that he might salute Philip \ as his new king. The leading French 
newspaper of the time boldly proclaimed that the Pyrenees were 
no more. 

876. The War of the Spanish Succession. King William soon 
succeeded in forming a new Grand Alliance (1701) in which 
Louis's old enemies, England, Holland, and the emperor, were 
the most important members. William himself died just as hos- 
tilities were beginning, but the long War of the Spanish Succession 
was carried on vigorously by the great English general, the duke 
of Marlborough, and the Austrian commander, Eugene of Savoy. 
The conflict was more general than the Thirty Years' War ; even 
in America there was fighting between French and English colo- 
nists, which passes in American histories under the name of Queen 
Anne's War. All the more important battles went against the 
French, and after ten years of war, which was rapidly ruining 



France under Louis XIV 597 

the country by the destruction of its people and its wealth, 
Louis XIV was willing to consider some compromise, and after 
long discussion a peace was arranged in 17 13. 

877. The Treaty of Utrecht (1713). The Treaty of Utrecht 
changed the map of Europe as no previous treaty had done, not 
even that of Westphalia. Each of the chief combatants got his 
share of the Spanish booty over which they had been fighting. 
The Bourbon Philip V was permitted to retain Spain and its 
colonies on condition that the Spanish and French crowns should 
never rest on the same head. To Austria fell the Spanish Nether- 
lands, hereafter called the Austrian Netherlands, which continued 
to form a barrier between Holland and France. Holland received 
certain fortresses to make its position still more secure. The 
Spanish possessions in Italy, that is, Naples and Milan, were also 
given to Austria, and in this way Austria got the hold on Italy 
which it retained until 1866. From France, England acquired 
Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and the Hudson Bay region, and so 
began the expulsion of the French from North America. Besides 
these American provinces she received the rock and fortress of 
Gibraltar, which still gives her command of the narrow entrance 
to the IVlediterranean. 

878. The Development of International Law. The period 
of Louis XIV is remarkable for the development of international 
law. The incessant wars and great alliances embracing several 
powers made increasingly clear the need of well-defined rules 
governing states in their relations with one another both in peace 
and in war. It was of the utmost importance to determine, for 
instance, the rights of ambassadors and of the vessels of neutral 
powers not engaged in the war, and what should be considered 
fair conduct in warfare and in the treatment of prisoners. 

The first great systematic treatise on international law was 
published by Grotius in 1625, when the horrors of the Thirty 
Years' War were impressing men's minds with the necessity of 
finding some means other than war of settling disputes between 
nations. While the rules laid down by Grotius and later writers 
have, as we must sadly admit, by no m-eansput an end to war, 



598 History of Europe 

they have prevented many conflicts by increasing the ways in 
which nations may, without recourse to arms, come to an under- 
standing with one another through their ambassadors. 

879. France in the Eighteenth Century. Louis XIV outlived 
his son and his grandson and left a sadly demoralized kingdom to 
his five-year-old great-grandson, Louis XV (1715-1774). The 
national treasury was depleted, the people were reduced in num- 
bers and were in a miserable state, and the army, once the finest 
in Europe, was in no condition to gain further victories. 

Something will be said in the following chapters of the wars in 
which France became involved in the eighteenth century and how 
she lost her colonies in both India and America. When the great 
French Revolution began in 1789 France became once more the 
great cause of agitation in Europe. The general conditions and 
the spirit of reform in France and elsewhere which led to the 
French Revolution will be taken up at the beginning of the 
following volume. 

QUESTIONS 

I. What did Richelieu accomplish in strengthening the French 
monarchy ? What were Louis XIV's ideas of kingship ? Why did 
the French view the '" divine right of kings " differently from the 
English ? Contrast Louis XIV with James I. 

II. Describe the palace of Versailles. What were the chief reforms 
of Colbert ? Mention some of the great writers of Louis XIV's tim«*. 
How did the government aid scholarship and science ? 

III. What led Louis XIV to attack his neighbors ? What are the 
" natural " boundaries of France ? What country did Louis firsi 
attack ? What additions did he make to French territory ? 

IV. What was the policy of Louis XIV toward the Huguenots ? 
Who were Louis XIV's chief enemies ? 

V. What were the causes of the War of the Spanish Succession 
What were the chief changes provided for in the Treaty of Utrecht ? 



CHAPTER XXXVII 
RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA BECOME EUROPEAN POWERS 

I. Beginnings of Russia 

880. Emergence of Two New European Powers. While 
much has been said in the preceding chapters of France, England, 
Spain, the Germanies, and the Netherlands, it has not been neces- 
sary hitherto to speak of either Russia or Prussia. During the past 
two hundred years these two states have played a great and ter- 
rible role in the affairs of Europe and of the world. The aggres- 
sions of Prussia finally united most of the civilized nations of the 
globe against her in the World War, and then the Bolshevik revo- 
lution in Russia seemed to many to threaten the whole existing 
order. We must, accordingly, now turn from the Rhine and the 
Pyrenees to the shores of the Baltic and the vast plains of eastern 
Europe in order to see how these two states grew up and became 
actors in the great drama of humanity. 

While the long War of the Spanish Succession had been in prog- 
ress, due to Louis XIV's anxiety to add Spain to the possessions 
of his family, another conflict was raging in the North, and changes 
were taking place there comparable in importance to those which 
were ratified by the Peace of Utrecht. Russia, which had hitherto 
faced eastward, was turning toward the West, upon which she 
was destined to exert an ever-increasing influence, extending even 
to our own country. The newly founded kingdom of Prussia was 
gathering its forces for those warlike enterprises which have 
characterized its history and which ultimately led to a disaster 
so great that it is impossible for the human imagination fully to 
appreciate the tragedy. 

881. The Slavic Peoples. We have had little occasion hitherto, 
in deahng with the history of western Europe, to refer to the 
Slavic peoples, to whom the Russians, Poles, Bohemians, and 

599 



6oo History oj Europe 

many other nations of eastern Europe belong. Together they 
form the most numerous race in Europe, but only recently has 
their history begun to merge into that of the world at large. In 
the eighteenth century Russia first began to take an increasingly 
important part in European affairs. Before the World War, which 
began in 19 14, the realms of the Tsar which lay in Europe ex- 
ceeded in extent those of all the other rulers of the continent put 
together, and yet they were scarcely more than a quarter of his 
whole dominion, which embraced northern and central Asia — 
an empire nearly three times the size of the United States. 

The Slavs were settled along the Dnieper, Don, and Vistula 
Rivers long before the Christian Era. After the East Goths had 
penetrated into the Roman Empire (§458) the Slavs followed 
their example and invaded, ravaged, and conquered the Balkan 
Peninsula, which they, held for some time. When the German 
Lombards went south into Italy, about 569 (§465), the Slavs 
pressed behind them into the eastern Alps, where they still live to 
the north of the Adriatic Sea. Other Slavic hordes had driven the 
Germans across the Oder and the upper Elbe. Later the German 
emperors, beginning with Charlemagne, began to push them back, 
but the Bohemians and Moravians, who are Slavs, still hold an 
advanced position close on the borders of Germany. 

882. Beginnings of Russia. In the ninth century some of 
the Northmen invaded the districts to the east of the Baltic, while 
their relatives were causing grievous trouble in France and Eng- 
land (§§520, 537, 540). It is generally supposed that one of 
their leaders, Rurik, was the lirst to consolidate the Slavic tribes 
about Novgorod into a sort of state, in 862. Rurik's successor 
extended the bounds of the new empire to the south as far as the 
Dnieper River. The word " Russia " is probably derived from 
Rous, the name given by the neighboring Finns to the Norman 
adventurers. Before the end of the tenth century the Greek form 
of Christianity was introduced and the Russian ruler was bap- 
tized. The frequent intercourse with Constantinople might have 
led to rapid advance in civilization had it not been for a great 
disaster which put Russia back for centuries, 



Russia and Prussia become European Powers 60 1 

883. The Tartar Invasion. Russia is geographically nothing 
more than an extension of the vast plain of northern Asia, which 
the Russians were destined finally to conquer. It was therefore 
exposed to the great invasion of the Tartars, or Mongols, who 
swept in from the east in the thirteenth century. The powerful 
Tartar ruler, Genghis Khan (i 162-1227), conquered northern 
China and central Asia, and the mounted hordes of his successors 
crossed into Europe and overran Russia, which had fallen apart 
into numerous principalities. The Russian princes became the 
dependents of the Great Khan and had frequently to seek his 
far-distant court, some three thousand miles away, where he 
freely disposed of both their crowns and their heads. The Tartars 
exacted tribute of the Russians but left them undisturbed in their 
laws and religion. 

884. Influence of the Tartar Occupation on Russia. Of the 
Russian princes who went to prostrate themselves at the foot of 
the Great Khan's throne, none made a more favorable impression 
upon him than the prince of Moscow, to whose advantage the 
Khan was wont to decide all cases of dispute between the prince 
and his rivals. When the Mongol power had begun to decline in 
strength and the princes of Moscow had grown stronger, they 
ventured, in 1480, to kill the Mongol ambassadors sent to demand 
tribute and thus freed themselves from the Mongol yoke. But 
the Tartar occupation had left its mark, for the princes of Mos- 
cow imitated the Khans rather than the Western rulers, of whom, 
in fact, they knew nothing. In 1547 Ivan the Terrible assumed 
the title of '' Tsar," ^ which was the Russian equivalent of the title 
"king," or "emperor." The costumes and etiquette of the court 
were also Asiatic. The Russian armor suggested that of the 
Chinese, and their headdress was a turban. It was the task of 
Peter the Great to Europeanize Russia. 

1 The word "Tsar," or "Czar," is derived from " Caesar" (German, Kaiser), but was 
used in Slavic books for the title of the kings of antiquity as well as for the Roman 
emperors. Peter the Great called himself " Imperator " ; that is, " emperor." The Tsar 
was also known as " Autocrat of all the Russias." 



602 



History of Europe 



II. Peter the Great 

885. Peter the Great (1672-1725). At the time of Peter's ac- 
cession, in 1672, Russia, which had grown greatly under Ivan 

the Terrible and other 
enterprising rulers, still 
had no outlet to the 
sea. In manners and cus- 
toms the kingdom was 
Asiatic, and its govern- 
ment was like that of a 
Tartar prince. 'Peter had 
no objection to the des- 
potic power which fell to 
him, but he knew that 
Russia was very much be- 
hind the rest of Europe 
and that his crudely 
equipped soldiers could 
never make head against 
the well-armed and well- 
disciplined troops of the 
West. He had no seaport 
and ho ships, and without 
these Russia could never 
hope to take part in the 
world's affairs. His tvu 
great tasks were the^'- 




FiG. 156. Peter the Great 

Peter was a tall, strong man, impulsive in 
action, sometimes vulgarly familiar, but al- 
ways retaining an air of command. When 
he visited Louis XV of France in 1717 he 
astonished the court by taking the seven- 
year-old king under the arms and hoisting 
him up in the air to kiss him. The courtiers 
were much shocked at his conduct 



fore to introduce Wester 
habits into his barbarous realms and to "make a window," as br 
expressed it, through which Russia might look abroad. 

886, Peter's Travels in Europe. In 1697-1698 Peter him- 
self visited Germany. Holland, and England with a view to in- 
vestigating every art and science of the West, as well as the 
most approved methods of manufacture, from the making of a 
man-of-war to the etching of an engraving. Nothing escaped the 



Russia and Prussia become European Powers 603 

keen eyes of this rude, half-savage Northern giant. For a week he 
put on the wide breeches of a Dutch laborer and worked in the 
shipyard at Zaandam near Amsterdam. In England, Holland, and 
Germany he engaged artisans, scientific men, architects, ship 
captains, and those versed in artillery and in the training of 
troops — all of whom he took back with him to aid in the 
reform and development of Russia. 

887. Peter's Reform Measures. Peter was called home by 
the revolt of Russian nobles and churchmen who were horrified 
at his desertion of the habits and customs of his forefathers. 
They hated what they called ''German ideas," such as short coats, 
tobacco smoking, and shaven faces. Peter took a fearful revenge 
upon the rebels and is said to have himself cut off the heads 
of many of them. Like the barbarian that he was at heart he 
left their heads and bodies lying about all winter, unburied, in 
order to make the terrible results of revolt against his power quite 
plain to all. 

Peter's reforms extended through his whole reign. He made 
his people give up their cherished oriental beards and long flowing 
garments. He forced the women of the richer classes, who had 
been kept in a sort of oriental harem, to come out and meet the 
men in social assemblies, such as were common in the West. He 
invited foreigners to settle in Russia and sent young Russians 
abroad to study. He reorganized the government officials on the 
model of a Western kingdom and made over his army in the 
same way. 

888. Founding of St. Petersburg. Finding that the old capi- 
tal, Moscow, clung persistently to its ancient habits, Peter prepared 
to found a new capital for his new Russia. He selected for this 
purpose a bit of territory on the Baltic which he had conquered 
from Sweden — very marshy, it is true, but where he might hope 
to construct Russia's first real port. Here he ' lilt St. Peters- 
burg^ at enormous expense and colonized it with Russians and 
foreigners. Russia was at last becoming a European power. 

1 Changed to Petrograd during, the war with Germany in 1914 so that the Russian 
capital should no longer be called by a German name. 



6o4 History of Europe 

889. Russia gains on the Baltic. The next problem was to 
get control of the provinces lying between the Russian boundary 
and the Baltic Sea. These belonged to Sweden, which happened 
to have at that time a very warlike young monarch, Charles XII. 
He filled Europe with astonishment for a time by engaging in war 
with Denmark, Poland, and Russia and gaining many surprising 
victories. But his attempt to penetrate into Russia proved as 
fatal to him as a similar attempt did to Napoleon a century later. 
His prowess only served to set back Russia's plans for the moment. 
Three years after his death, which occurred in 1718, Peter forced 
Sweden to cede to him Livonia, Esthonia, and other Swedish ter- 
ritory which had previously cut Russia off from the sea. 

890. Peter's Attempt to reach the Black Sea. Peter looked 
with longing eyes on the possessions of the Turks to the south 
of him, and he made vain attempts to extend the Russian control 
as far as the Black Sea. He did not succeed in this, but it had 
become evident that if the Turks were to be driven from Europe, 
Russia would prove a mighty rival of the other European powers 
in the division of the spoils. 

For a generation after the death of Peter the Great, Russia 
fell into the hands of incompetent rulers. It only appears again 
as a European state when the great Catherine II came to the 
throne, in 1762. From that time on, the Western powers had 
always to consider the vast Slavic empire in all their great 
struggles. They had also to consider a new kingdom in northern 
Germany, which was just growing into a great power as Peter 
began his work. This was Prussia, whose beginnings we must 
now consider. 

III. Origin of the Kingdom of Prussia 

891. Brandenburg and the Hohenzollerns. The electorate 
of Brandenburg had figured on the map of Germany for cen- 
turies, and there was no particular reason to suppose that it was 
to become one day the dominant state in Germany and, finally, 
a great menace to the world. Early in the fifteenth century the 



Russia and Prussia become European Powers 605 

old line of electors had died out, and Emperor Sigismund had sold 
Brandenburg to a hitherto unimportant house, the Hohenzollerns, 
which is known to us now through such names as those of Fred- 
erick the Great, of William I, the first German emperor, and of 
his grandson, the notorious ''kaiser," William II. Beginning 
with a strip of territory extending some ninety or a hundred miles 
to the east and to the west of the little town of Berlin, the suc- 
cessive representatives of the line gradually extended their bound- 
aries until the kingdom of Prussia embraced nearly two thirds 




Warsaw 

OF POLAND 



Territories of the Great Elector of Braxdenuurg 



of Germany. Of the earlier little annexations nothing need be 
«5aid. While it has always been the pride of the Hohenzollern 
iimily that almost every one of its reigning members has added 
;omething to what his ancestors handed down to him, no great 
extension took place until just before the Thirty Years' War. 
About that time the electors of Brandenburg inherited Cleves 
and Mark and thus got their first hold on the Rhine district. 

892. Prussia acquired by the Elector of Brandenburg. What 
vas quite as important, a few years later the electors of Branden- 
burg won, far to the east, the duchy of Prussia, which was sepa- 
rated from Brandenburg by Polish territory. "Prussia" was 
originally the name of a region on the Baltic inhabited by heathen 
Slavs. These had been conquered in the thirteenth century by 
one of the orders of crusading knights (the Teutonic order), who, 



6o6 History of Europe 

when the conquest of the Holy Land was abandoned, in the 
thirteenth century (§612), looked about for other occupation. 

After the German knights had conquered Prussia it began 
to fill up with German colonists. In Luther's day (1525) the 
knights were converted to Protestantism and dissolved their order. 
They then formed their lands into the duchy of Prussia, and 
their Grand Master, who was a relative of the elector of Branden- 
burg, became their first duke. About a hundred years later ( 1618) 
this branch of the Hohenzollerns died out, and the duchy then 
fell to the elector of Brandenburg. 

893. The Territories of the Great Elector (i64o-i688). Not- 
withstanding this substantial territorial gain, there was little 
promise that the hitherto obscure electorate would ever become 
a formidable power when, in 1640, Frederick William, known as 
the Great Elector, came to the throne of Brandenburg. His ter- 
ritories were scattered from the Rhine to the Vistula, his army was 
of small account, and his authority was disputed by powerful 
nobles. The center of his domain was Brandenburg. Far to the 
west was Mark, bordering on the Rhine valley, and Cleves, lying 
on both banks of that river. Far to the east, beyond the Vistula, 
was the duchy of Prussia (see map, p. 605). 

The Great Elector was, however, well fitted for the task of 
welding these domains into a powerful state. He was coarse by 
nature, heartless in destroying opponents, treacherous in diplo- 
matic negotiations, and entirely devoid of the refinement which 
distinguished his contemporary, Louis XIV, and his court. He 
resolutely set to work to increase his territories and his power. 

By shrewd tactics during the closing days of the Thirty Years 
War he managed to secure, by the Treaty of Westphalia (§817), 
the bishoprics of Minden and Halberstadt and the duchy of 
Farther Pomerania, which gave him a good shore line on the 
Baltic. 

894. Reforms of the Great Elector. Knowing that the in 
terests of his house depended on military strength, he organized 
in spite of the protests of the taxpayers, an army out of all pro- 
portion to the size and wealth of his dominions, and this was 



Russia and Prussia become European Powers 607 

the beginning of that great Prussian war machine which was 
developed as time went on and showed its tremendous strength 
in the conflict which began in 19 14. He succeeded in creating 
an absolute monarchy on the model furnished by Louis XIV. 
He joined with England and Holland in their alliances against 
Louis, and the army of Brandenburg began to be known and feared. 




Fig. 157. Military Punishment 

The armies of the old regime were mostly made up of hired soldiers or 
serfs, and the officers maintained discipline by cruel punishments. In this 
picture of a Prussian regiment one soldier is being flogged while half sus- 
pended by his wrists ; another is forced to walk between two files of soldiers 
who must beat his bared back with heavy rods. It has been said that these 
soldiers found war a relief from the terrors of peace, since in war time the 

punishments were lessened 



Though a good Protestant, the Great Elector permitted religious 
freedom to a remarkable degree. He made Catholics eligible to of- 
fice and, on the other hand, gave asylum to the persecuted Hugue- 
nots of France (§§ 788 ff.), even offering them special inducements 
to settle in his realms. As Frederick the Great said of him, he was 
his own prime minister and his own commander in chief. 



6o8 History of Europe 

895. Brandenburg becomes the Kingdom of Prussia (noi). 
It was accordingly a splendid legacy which the Great Elector left 
in 1688 to his son, Frederick III, and although the career of the 
latter was by no means so brilliant as that of his father, he induced 
the emperor to permit him to change his title from " elector " 
to "king" and so to transform his electorate into a kingdom.^ 
The title " King in Prussia"^ was deemed preferable to the molt 
natural " King of Brandenburg " because Prussia lay wholly with- 
out the bounds of the empire, and consequently its ruler was not 
in any sense subject to the emperor but was entirely independent. 

896. Militarism of Frederick William I (1713-1740). The 
second ruler of the new kingdom, Frederick William I, the father 
of Frederick the Great, was a rough and boorish king who devoted 
himself entirely to governing his realm, collecting tall soldiers, 
drilling his battalions, hunting wild game, and smoking strong 
tobacco. He was passionately fond of military life from his 
childhood. He took special pride in stalwart soldiers and col- 
lected them at great expense from all parts of Europe. H( 
raised the Prussian army, which numbered twenty-seven thou- 
sand in the days of the Great Elector, to eighty-four thousand 
making it almost equal to that maintained by France or Austria 
He was constantly drilling and reviewing his men, whom he ad- 
dressed as ''my blue children." 

Moreover, by constant management, miserly thrift, and entire 
indifference to luxury, Frederick William treasured up a huge 
sum of money. He discharged a large number of court servants, 
sold at auction many of the royal jewels, and had a great part 
of the family table silver coined into money. Consequently he 
was able to leave to his son, Frederick II, not only an admirabl^ 
army but an ample supply of gold. Indeed, it was his toil and 
economy that made possible the achievements of his far more 
distinguished son. 

1 As king of Prussia his title was, of course, Frederick I. 

2 He was not king of all of Prussia. Frederick the Great changed it to "King of 
Prussia " after the incorporation of the. rest, in the partition of Poland. 



Russia and Prussia become European Powers 609 

IV. The Wars of Frederick the Great 

897. Accession of Frederick II, called "the Great" (1740- 
1786). In his early years Frederick II grieved and disgusted his 
boorish old father by his dislike for military life and his interest 
in books and music. He was a particular admirer of the French 
and preferred their language to his own. No sooner had he be- 
come king, however, than he suddenly developed marvelous energy 
and skill in warlike enterprises. Chance favored his designs. 

898. Frederick's Attack upon Silesia. The Emperor Charles VI, 
the last representative of the direct male line of the Hapsburgs, 
died in 1740, just a few months before Frederick ascended the 
throne, leaving only a daughter, Maria Theresa, to inherit his 
vast and miscellaneous dominions. He had induced the other 
European powers to promise to accept the "pragmatic sanction," 
or solemn will, in which he left everything to the young Maria 
Theresa ; but she had no sooner begun to reign than her greedy 
neighbors prepared to seize her lands. Her greatest enemy was 
the newly crowned king of Prussia, who at first pretended friend- 
ship for her. Frederick determined to seize Silesia, a strip of 
Hapsburg territory lying to the southeast of Brandenburg. He 
accordingly marched his army into the coveted district and oc- 
cupied the important city of Breslau without declaring war or of- 
fering any excuse except a vague claim to a portion of the land.^ 

899. The War of the Austrian Succession. France, stimu- 
lated by Frederick's example, joined with Bavaria in the attack 
upon Maria Theresa. It seemed for a time as if her struggle 
to keep her realm intact would be vain, but the loyalty of all 
the various peoples under her scepter was roused by her extraor- 
dinary courage and energy. The French were driven back, but 

1 As no woman had ever been elected empress, the duke of Bavaria managed to 
secure the Holy Roman Empire, as Emperor Charles VII. Upon his death, however, 
in 1745, Maria Theresa's husband, Francis, duke of Lorraine, was chosen emperor. 
Their son, Joseph II, succeeded his father in 1765, and upon his death, in 1790, his 
brother Leopold II was elected. When he died, in 1792, the empire fell to his son 
Francis II, who was the last of the "Roman" emperors but assumed the new title 
" Emperor of Austria."' 



6io 



History of Europe 



Maria Theresa was forced to grant Silesia to Frederick in order 
to induce him to retire from the war. Finally, England and Hol- 
land joined in an alliance for maintaining the balance of power, 
for they had no desire to see France annex the Austrian Nether- 
lands. A few years later (1748) all the powers, tired of the war, — 
which is known as the War of the Austrian Succession, — laid 

down their arms and agreed 
to what is called in diplo- 
macy the status quo ante 
bellum, which simply means 
that things were to be re- 
stored to the condition in 
which they had been before 
the opening of hostilities. 

900. Policy of Frederick 
the Great. Frederick was, 
however, permitted to keep 
Silesia, which increased his 
dominions by about one 
third of their former extent. 
He now turned some of 
his attention to making his 
kingdom richer by draining 
the swamps, promoting in- 
dustry, and drawing up a 
new code of laws. He found time, also, to gratify his interest in 
men of letters and invited Voltaire, the famous French writer, 
to make his home at Berlin. It will not seem strange to anyone 
who knows anything of the character of these two men that they 
quarreled after two or three years and that Voltaire left the Prus- 
sian king with very bitter feelings. (See also § 915.) 

901. The Seven Years' War ; the Alliance between France 
and Austria. Maria Theresa was by no means reconcikd to the 
loss of Silesia, and she began to lay her plans for expelling the 
perfidious Frederick and regaining her lost territory. This led to 
one of the most important wars in modern history, in which not 




Fig. 158. Frederick the Great 



Russia and Prussia become European Powers 6ii 

only almost every European power joined but which involved 
the whole world, from the Indian rajahs of Hindustan to the 
colonists of Virginia and New England. This Seven Years' War 
( 1 756-1 763) will be considered in its broader aspects in the 
next chapter (§§ 943-946). We shall mention here only the part 
played in it by the king of Prussia. 

Maria Theresa's ambassador at Paris was so skillful in his 
negotiations with the French court that in 1756 he induced it, 
in spite of its two hundred years of hostility to the House of 
Hapsburg, to enter into an alliance with Austria against Prussia. 
Russia, Sweden, and Saxony also agreed to join in a concerted 
attack on Prussia. Their armies, coming as they did from every 
point of the compass, threatened the complete annihilation of 
Austria's rival. It seemed as if Frederick's armies might be wiped 
out and the new kingdom of Prussia might disappear altogether 
from the map of Europe. 

902. Frederick's Victorious Defense. However, it was in this 
war that Frederick earned his title of "the Great" and showed 
nimself the equal of the ablest generals the world has seen, from 
Alexander to Napoleon. Undaunted by the overwhelming numbers 
of his enemies and by the loss of several battles, Frederick defeated 
the French and his German enemies in the most famous, perhaps, 
of his battles, at Rossbach in 1757. A month later he routed 
the Austrians brilliantly at Leuthen, not far from Breslau. There- 
upon the Swedes and the Russians retired from the field and 
left Frederick for the moment master of the situation. 

England now engaged the French and left Frederick at liberty 
to deal with his other enemies. Money paid him by the English 
government helped him to stay in the field, but for a time it looked 
as if he might, after all, be vanquished. But the accession of a 
new Tsar, who was an ardent admirer of Frederick, led Russia 
to conclude peace with Prussia, whereupon Maria Theresa reluc- 
tantly agreed to give up once more her struggle with her in- 
veterate enemy. Shortly afterwards England and France came 
to terms, and a general settlement was made at Paris in 1763 
(see below, § 946). 



012 History of Europe 

V. Three Partitions of Poland, 1772, 1793, and 1795 

903. Question of West Prussia. Frederick's success in seiz- 
ing and holding one of Austria's finest provinces did not satisfy 
him. The central portions of his kingdom — Brandenburg, Silesia, 
and Pomerania — were completely cut off from East Prussia by 
a considerable tract known as West Prussia, which belonged to 
the kingdom of Poland. The upper map on the opposite page 
will show how great must have been Frederick's temptation to 
fill this gap, especially as he well knew that Poland was in no 
condition to defend its possessions. 

904. Weakness of Poland. With the exception of Russia, 
Poland was the largest kingdom in Europe. It covered an im- 
mense plain with no natural boundaries, and the population, which 
was very thinly scattered, belonged to several races. Besides the 
Poles themselves there were Germans in the cities of West Prussia 
and Russians in Lithuania. The Jews were very numerous every- 
where, forming half of the population in some of the towns. The 
Poles were usually Catholics, while the Germans were Protestants 
and the Russians adhered to the Greek Church. These dif- 
ferences in religion, added to those of race, created endless prob- 
lems and dissensions and explain many of the difficulties involved 
in the attempt to reestablish an independent Polish republic after 
the great World War. 

The government of Poland was the worst imaginable. Insteac. 
-of having developed a strong monarchy, as her neighbors — 
Prussia, Russia, and Austria — had done, she remained in a state 
of feudal anarchy, which the nobles had taken the greatest pain- 
to perpetuate by binding their kings in such a way that they 
had no power either to maintain order or to defend the countr- 
from attack. The king could not declare war, make peace, impose 
taxes, or pass any law, without the consent of the diet. As th«' 
diet was composed of representatives of the nobility, any one o. 
whom could freely veto any measure, — for no measure could 
pass that had even one vote against it, — most of the diets broke 
up without accomplishing anything. 




PRUSSIA 

at the Death of 

FKEDEKICK THE GREAT 

in 1786 

SCALt OF MILES 



6i4 History of Europe 

The kingship was not hereditary in Poland, but whenever the 
ruler died the nobles assembled and chose a new one, commonly 
a foreigner. These elections were tumultuous, and the various 
European powers regularly interfered, by force or bribery, to 
secure the election of a candidate whom they believed would 
favor their interests. 

905. The Polish Nobles and Peasants. The nobles in Poland 
were numerous. There were perhaps a million and a half of 
them, mostly very poor, owning only a trifling bit of land. There 
was a saying that the poor noble's dog, even if he sat in the middle 
of his master's estate, was sure to have his tail upon a neigh- 
bor's land. There was no middle class except in the few German 
towns. The peasants were miserable indeed. They had sunk 
from serfs to slaves over whom their lords had even the right of 
life and death. 

906. First Partition of Poland (1772). It required no great 
insight to foresee that Poland was in danger of falling a prey 
to her greedy and powerful neighbors, Russia, Prussia, and Aus- 
tria, who clamped in the unfortunate kingdom on all sides. They 
had long shamelessly interfered in its affairs and had actually 
taken active measures to oppose all reforms of the constitution 
in order that they might profit by the chronic anarchy. 

The ruler of Russia was the famous Catherine II (see below, 
§916), who arranged with Frederick the Great to prevent any 
improvement in Poland and to keep up and encourage the dis- 
order. Finally, Poland's kind neighbors, including Austria, agreed, 
in 1772, each to take a slice of the unhappy kingdom. 

Austria was assigned a strip inhabited by almost three million 
Poles and Russians and thus added two new kinds of people 
and two new languages to her already varied collection of rsLcei^ 
and tongues. Prussia was given a smaller piece, but it was the 
coveted West Prussia, which she needed to fill out her boundaries 
and its inhabitants were to a considerable extent Germans and 
Protestants. Russia's strip, on the east, was inhabited entirely 
by Russians. The Polish diet was forced, by the advance of 
Russian troops to Warsaw, to approve the partition. 



Russia and Prussia become European Powers 615 

907. Revival of Poland (1772-1791). Poland seemed at first, 
however, to have learned a great lesson from the disaster. During 
the twenty years following its first dismemberment there was an 
extraordinary revival in education, art, and literature. Historians 
and poets sprang up to give distinction to the last days of Polish 
independence. The constitution which had made Poland the 




Fig. 159. A Cartoon of the Partition of Poland 

Catherine II, Joseph II, and Frederick II are pointing out the part of the map 

of Poland they each propose to take. The king of Poland is trying to hold his 

crown from falling off his head. What is left of Poland on the map .'' 



laughingstock and the victim of its neighbors was abolished, and 
an entirely new one worked out. It did away with the free veto 
of the nobles, made the crown hereditary, and established a parlia- 
ment somewhat like that of England. 

Russia had no desire that Poland should become a strong 
monarchy, and it sent soldiers to help the enemies of the new 
constitution on the ground that Russia could not bear to see any 
changes in the government " under which the Polish commonwealth 
had flourished for so many centuries." Russia and Prussia, having 



6i6 History of Europe 

secured the continuance of disorder in Poland, declared that they 
could not put up with such a dangerous neighbor and proceeded 
to a second partition in 1793. 

908. Second Partition (1793). Prussia cut deep into Poland, 
added a milHon and a half of Poles to her subjects, and acquired 
the towns of Thorn, Danzig, and Posen. Russia's gains were three 
millions of people, who at least belonged to her own race. On 
this occasion Austria was put off with the promises of her con- 
federates, Russia and Prussia, that they would use their good 
offices to secure Bavaria for her in exchange for the Austrian 
Netherlands. 

909. Revolt of Kosciusko (1794). At this juncture the Poles 
found a national leader in the brave Kosciusko, who had fought 
under Washington for American liberty. With the utmost care 
and secrecy he organized an insurrection in the spring of 1794 
and summoned the Polish people to join his standard of national 
independence. The Poles who had been incorporated into the 
Prussian monarchy thereupon rose and forced Prussia to with- 
draw its forces. 

910. Third and Final Partition (1795). Russia was ready, how- 
ever, to crush the patriots. Kosciusko was wounded and cap- 
tured in battle, and by the end of the year Russia was in control 
of Warsaw. The Polish king was compelled to abdicate, and the 
remnants of the dismembered kingdom were divided, after much 
bitter contention, among Austria, Russia, and Prussia. In the 
three partitions which blotted out the kingdom of Poland from 
the map of Europe, Russia received nearly twice the combint d 
shares of Austria and Prussia. 

VI. The Austrian Realms : Maria Theresa and 

Joseph II 

911. The Hapsburgs in Austria. While the Hohenzollerns of 
Prussia from their capital at Berlin had been extending their 
power over northern Germany, the great house of Hapsburg, es- 
tablished in the southeastern corner of Germany, with its capital 



Russia and Prussia become European Powers 617 

at Vienna, had been grouping together, by conquest or inheritance, 
the vast realm over much of which it ruled down to the end of 
the World War, in 1918. It will be remembered that Charles V, 
shortly after his accession, ceded to his brother, Ferdinand I, the 
German or Austrian possessions of the house of Hapsburg (§ 779), 
while he himself retained the Spanish, Burgundian, and Italian 
dominions. Ferdinand, by a fortunate marriage with the heiress 
of the kingdoms of Bohemia and Hungary, greatly augmented his 
territory. Hungary was, however, almost completely conquered 
by the Turks at that time, and till the end of the seventeenth 
century the energies of the Austrian rulers were largely absorbed 
in a long struggle against the Mohammedans. 

912, Conquests of the Turks in Europe. A Turkish tribe 
from western Asia had, at the opening of the fourteenth century, 
established themselves in western Asia Minor under their leader, 
Othman (d. 1326). It was from him that they derived their name 
of Ottoman Turks, to distinguish them from the Seljuk Turks, 
with whom the crusaders had come into contact. The leaders of 
the Ottoman Turks showed great energy. They not only extended 
their Asiatic territory far toward the east, and later into Africa, 
but they gained a footing in Europe as early as 1353. They 
gradually conquered the Slavic peoples in Macedonia and occupied 
the territory about Constantinople, although it was a hundred 
years before they succeeded in capturing the ancient capital 
of the Eastern Empire. 

This advance of the Turks naturally aroused grave fears in 
the states of western Europe lest they too might be deprived of 
their independence. The brunt of the defense against the com- 
mon foe devolved upon Venice and the German Hapsburgs, who 
carried on an almost continuous war with the Turks for nearly 
two centuries. As late as 1683 the Mohammedans collected a 
large force and besieged Vienna, which might very well have 
fallen into their hands had it not been for the timely assistance 
which the city received from the king of Poland. From this time 
^ on, the power of the Turks in Europe rapidly decreased, and the 
Hapsburgs were able to regain the whole territory of Hungary and 



6i8 



History of Europe 



Transylvania. Their possession of these lands, which they held 
until 1918, was recognized by the Sultan in 1699. 

913. Heterogeneous Population under the Hapsburgs. The 
conquest of Silesia by Frederick the Great was more than a severe 
blow to the pride of Maria Theresa ; for, since it was inhabited by 
Germans, its loss lessened the Hapsburg power inside the empire. 
In extent of territory the Hapsburgs more than made up for it by 
the partitions of Poland, but since the Poles were an alien race 

they added one more difficulty 
to the very difficult problem of 
ruling so many various peoples, 
each of whom had a different 
language and different customs 
and institutions. The Hapsburg 
possessions were inhabited by 
Germans in Austria proper, a 
Slav people (the Czechs) mixed 
with Germans in Bohemia and 
Moravia, Poles in Galicia, Hun- 
garians or Magyars along with 
Rumanians and smaller groups 
of other peoples in Hungary ; 
Croats and Slovenes (both 
Slavs) in the south, Italians in 
Milan and Tuscany, and Flemish 
and Walloons in the Netherlands. 
The problems which confronted Maria Theresa and her son 
Joseph II were much more difficult than those of France or England. 
Poles, Italians, Magyars, and Germans could never be united into 
one state by such common interests as Englishmen or Frenchmen 
have felt so keenly in the last two centuries. Instead of fusing to- 
gether to form a nation, the peoples ruled over by the Hapsburgs 
have been on such bad terms with each other that with the terrible 
disasters of the World War they finally split apart, forming 
separate nations. Moreover, since some of its peoples, especially 
the Slavs, Poles, and Rumanians, lived in neighboring states as 




Fig. 160. Maria Theresa 



Russia and Prussia become European Powers 619 

well, the Hapsburg monarchy was always much concerned in 
what happened outside its borders. The immediate cause of the 
terrible conflict which began in 19 14 was trouble between Aus- 
tria and her neighbor Serbia. So if one hopes to understand 
the great questions of our own time he must follow carefully the 
complicated history of Austria and her ever-changing realms. 



VII. Reforms of Frederick II, Catherine II, 
AND Joseph II 

914. The "Benevolent Despots." The monarchs whose wars 
we have been following — Frederick the Great, Catherine the 
Great, Maria Theresa, and Emperor Joseph II — are commonly 
known as the "enlightened" or "benevolent" despots. They 
were no doubt more "enlightened" than the older kings ; at least 
they all read books and associated with learned men. But they 
were not more "benevolent" than Charlemagne, or Canute, or 
St. Louis, or many other monarchs of earlier centuries, who had 
believed it their duty to do all they could for the welfare of their 
people. On the other hand, the monarchs of the eighteenth cen- 
tury were certainly despots in the full sense of the word. They 
held that all the powers of the State were vested in them, and had 
no idea of permitting their subjects any share in the government. 
Moreover, they waged war upon one another as their predecessors 
had done, and were constantly trying, as we have seen, to add 
to their own territories by robbing their neighbors. 

915. Attitude of Frederick the Great. When Frederick the 
Great became king he devoted himself less to music and philosophy 
and more to the practical problems of government. He allowed 
the people no part in the government, it is true, but he worked 
very hard himself. He rose early and was busy all day. He was 
his own prime minister and the real head of all branches of the 
government, watching over the army and leading it in battle, at- 
tending to foreign affairs, guarding the finances, overseeing the 
courts, journeying up and down the land investigating the conduct 
of his officials and examining into the condition of his people. 



62 o History of Europe 

In religious matters Frederick was extremely tolerant ; he held 
that his subjects should be allowed to worship God in any wa> 
they pleased. His kingdom had long been Protestant, but ther^^ 
were many Catholics in various parts of it. He welcomed Hugue- 
nots and Jesuits with equal cordiality and admitted Catholics i\ 
well as Protestants to his service. '' I stand neutral between Rome 
and Geneva," he once said ; "he who wrongs his brother of a 
different faith shall be punished ; were I to declare for one or 
the other creed I should excite party spirit and persecution ; my 
aim, on the contrary, is to show the adherents of the different 
churches that they are all fellow citizens." 

916. Catherine II, Empress of Russia (i762-i796). In Rus- 
sia, Peter the Great had been a genuine "benevolent despot." 
although the benevolence was more apparent to later generations 
than to his own half-Asiatic subjects.^ But in the days of Fred- 
erick the Great the ruler of all the Russias was a German woman. 
Catherine II, who is one of the most picturesque and interesting 
figures in history. She was the daughter of one of Frederick the 
Great's officers and had been selected by him in 1743, at the re- 
quest of the Tsarina Elizabeth, Peter's younger daughter, as a 
suitable wife for her nephew, the heir to the throne. At the age 
of fourteen this inexperienced girl found herself in the midst of 
the intrigues of the court at St. Petersburg ; she joined the Greek 
Church, exchanged her name of Sophia for that of Catherine . 
and, by zealous study of both books and men, prepared to make 
her new name famous. Her husband, who ruled for six months as 
Peter III, proved to be a worthless fellow, who early began to 
neglect and maltreat her. Catherine won over the imperial guard 
and had herself proclaimed empress. Peter was forced to abdicate 
and was carried off by some of Catherine's supporters, who put 
him to death, probably with her tacit consent. 

1 Peter was succeeded in 1725 by his widow, Catherine, who ruled ably for two years. 
His son Alexis had been tortured to death in prison for rebellion, and Alexis' son 
Peter II, who followed Catherine, was reactionary. Under Anne (1730-1740), niece of 
Peter I, German influence triumphed. Then came Elizabeth (1741-1762), Peters 
younger daughter, referred to in the text. She hated Frederick II for his personal 
remarks about her and aided Maria Theresa against him. 



Russia and Prussia become European Powers 62 1 



917. Character of Catherine the Great. In the spirit of Peter 
the Great, Catherine determined to carry on the Europeanizing of 
Russia and extend her empire. She was thoroughly unscrupulous 
and hypocritical, but she was shrewd in the choice and manage- 
ment of her ministers and was herself a hard worker. She rose at 
six o'clock in the morning, hurried through her toilet, prepared 
her own light breakfast, and turned to the exacting and dull 
business of government, care- 
fully considering the reports 
laid before her relating to the 
army, the navy, finances, and 
foreign affairs. 

Catherine II showed her- 
self almost as interested in 
the French philosophers and 
reformers of the time ^ as 
did Frederick. In her fre- 
quent letters to Voltaire she 
explained to him her various 
plans for reform. 

918. Catherine maintains 
Serfdom but seizes the 
Church Lands. There was 
some talk of abolishing serf- 
dom in Russia, but Catherine 
rather increased than de- 
creased the number of serfs, and she made their lot harder than 
it had been before by forbidding them to complain of the treat- 
ment they received at the hands of their masters. She appropriated 
the vast property of the churches and monasteries, using the 
revenue to support the clergy and monks, and such surplus as 
remained she devoted to schools and hospitals. 

919. Rash Reforms of Joseph II (i765-i79o). It is clear that 
while Frederick and Catherine expressed great admiration for the 




Fig. 161. Catherine II 



1 The views of the reformers who preceded the French Revolution will be considered 
in the second volume of this history. 



622 History of Europe 

reformers, they did not attempt to make any sweeping changes in 
the laws or the social order. Emperor Joseph II, who, after th. 
death of his mother, Maria Theresa, in 1780, became ruler of thi 
Austrian dominions, had, however, the courage of his convictions. 
He proposed to transform the scattered and heterogeneous ter 
ritories over which he ruled into a well-organized state in which 
disorder, confusion, prejudice, fanaticism, and intellectual bond- 
age should disappear and all his subjects be put in possession 
of their "natural" rights. Germans, Hungarians, Italians, Poles, 
Bohemians, and Belgians were all to use the German language 
in official communications. The old irregular territorial divisions 
were abolished and his realms divided into thirteen new provinces 
All the ancient privileges enjoyed by the towns and the local 
assemblies were done away with and replaced by a uniform system 
of government in which his own officials enjoyed the control. 

He attacked the Church, which was so powerful in his realms. 
He was heartily opposed to the monks ; he consequently abolished 
some six hundred of their monasteries and used their property 
for charitable purposes and to establish schools. He appointed 
the bishops without consulting the Pope and forbade money to be 
sent to Rome. Marriage was declared to be merely a civil con- 
tract and so was taken out of the control of the priests. Lutherans, 
Calvinists, and other heretics were allowed to worship in their 
own way. 

Joseph II sought to complete his work by attacking the sur- 
viving features of feudalism and encouraging the development of 
manufactures. He freed the serfs in Bohemia, Moravia, Galicia, 
and Hungary, transforming the peasants into tenants ; elsewhere 
he reduced the services due from them to the lord. He taxed 
nobles and clergy without regard to their claims to exemption 
and supplanted the confused and uncertain laws by a uniform 
system which is the basis of Austrian law to-day. 

Naturally Joseph met opposition on every hand. The clergy 
abhorred him as an oppressor, and all who were forced to sacri- 
fice their old privileges did what they could to block his reforms, 
however salutary they might be. Joseph died in 1790, a sadly 



Russia and Prussia become European Powers 623 

disappointed man. He had been forced to undo almost all that 
he had hoped to accomplish, and his reforms left few permanent 
results. 

920. General Policy of the Benevolent Despots. It has be- 
come clear, as we have reviewed the activities of these benevolent 
despots, that all of them were chiefly intent upon increasing their 
own power ; they were more despotic than they were benevolent. 
They opposed the power of the Pope and brought the clergy under 
their own control. In some cases they took a portion of the prop- 
erty of the churches and monasteries. They tried to improve the 
laws and do away with the existing contradictions and obscurities. 
They endeavored to " centralize " the administration and to place 
all the power in the hands of their own officials instead of leaving 
it with the nobles or the old local assemblies. They encouraged 
agriculture, commerce, and industries in various ways. All these 
measures were undertaken primarily with a view to strengthening 
the autocratic power of the ruler and increasing the revenue and 
the military strength of his government, for none of these energetic 
monarchs showed any willingness to admit the people to a share 
in the government, and only Joseph II ventured to attempt to 
free the serfs. 

QUESTIONS 

I. In what portions of eastern Europe were the Slavs settling during 
the barbarian invasions ? What is supposed to be the origin of the 
name " Russia " ? Give some of the results of the domination of 
Russia by the Mongols. 

II. What were the boundaries of Russia upon the accession of Peter 
the Great ? What territories did he add ? What were some of Peter's 
reforms ? 

III. Explain how the elector of Brandenburg came to have the title 
of " King of Prussia." Mention some of the chief rulers of the Hohen- 
zollern line. What had been accompHshed toward making Prussia a 
great European power before the accession of Frederick the Great ? 

IV. Give an account of the War of the Austrian Succession. What 
were the chief events of the Seven Years' War ? What have you 
learned of Frederick the Great ? Why was he a great admirer of 
the French ? 



624 History of Europe 

V. Describe the conditions in Poland in the eighteenth century. 
How was the first partition of Poland arranged ? When did the 
second partition take place and why was Austria left out ? Under 
what conditions did the third partition take place ? 

VI. Explain the relations of Austria and the Turks. What was the 
extent of the Hapsburg dominions when Maria Theresa came to the 
throne. Mention as many as you can of the peoples under the rule of 
Maria Theresa. Why are the former Austrian dominions specially 
interesting to us to-day? 

VII. Who were the " benevolent " despots and why are they so 
called ? In what ways did Frederick the Great attempt to reform 
his kingdom ? Who was Catherine the Great ? Describe her pohcy. 
Mention the reforms of Joseph II, 



CHAPTER XXXVIII 
HOW ENGLAND BECAME QUEEN OF THE OCEAN 

I. England after the Revolution of 1688 

921. England establishes her Supremacy on the Sea. In 

the last chapter we reviewed the progress of affairs in eastern 
Europe and noted the development of two new European powers, 
Prussia and Russia, which have for the past two centuries played 
a great part in the affairs of the world. In the West, England 
was rapidly becoming the most important state. While she did 
not greatly influence the course of the wars on the Continent 
she was already beginning to make herself mistress of the seas — 
a position which she still holds, owing to her colonies and her 
unrivaled fleet. 

At the close of the War of the Spanish Succession her navy 
was superior to that of any other power, for both France and 
Spain had been greatly weakened by the long conflict. Fifty years 
after the Treaty of Utrecht, England had succeeded in driving out 
the French both from North America and from India and in laying 
the foundations of her vast empire beyond the seas, which still 
gives her the commercial supremacy of the world. 

922. Questions settled by the Accession of William and 
Mary. With the accession of William and Mary in 1688 (§ 854) 
England may be said to have practically settled the two great 
questions that had produced such serious dissensions during the 
previous fifty years. In the first place, the nation had clearly 
shown that it proposed to remain Protestant in spite of the Catho- 
lic sympathies of her former Stuart kings ; and the relations be- 
tween the Church of England and the dissenters were gradually 
being satisfactorily adjusted. In the second place, the powers of 
the king had been carefully defined, and from the opening of the 

625 



62 6 



History of Europe 



eighteenth century to the present time no English monarch has 
ventured to veto an act of Parliament/ 

923. The Union of England and Scotland (1707). William III 
was succeeded in 1702 by his sister-in-law, Anne, a younger 
daughter of James II. Far more important than the war which 
her generals carried on against Spain was the final union of 
England and Scotland. As we have seen, the difficulties between 
the two countries had led to much bloodshed and suffering ever 
since Edward I's futile attempt to conquer Scotland (§562). 






England (St. George) 



Scotland (St. Andrew) 



Ireland (St. Patrick) 





Great Britain Great Britain and Ireland 

Fig. 162. The Union Jack^ 



The two countries had, it is true, been under the same ruler since 
the accession of James I, but each had maintained its own inde- 
pendent parliament and system of government. Finally, in 1707, 
both nations agreed to unite their governments into one. Forty- 
five members of the British House of Commons were to be chosen 
thereafter in Scotland, and sixteen Scotch lords were to be added 
to the English House of Lords. In this way the whole island of 
Great Britain was placed under a single government, and the 
occasions for strife were thereby greatly reduced. 

1 The last instance in which an English ruler vetoed a measure passed by Parliament 
was in 1707. 

2 The flag of Great Britain, combining the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew, 
was called the Union Jack from Jacques, the French form of James I, the first king of 
Great Britain. The cross of Ireland was added upon its union with Great Britain in 
1801. Upright lines indicate red ; horizontal lines, blue. 



How England became Queen of the Ocean 627 

924. Accession of George I (1714-1727) of Hanover. Since 
none of Anne's children survived her, she was succeeded, ac- 
cording to an arrangement made before her accession, by the 
nearest Protestant heir. This was the son of James I's grand- 
daughter Sophia. She had married the elector of Hanover^; con- 
sequently the new king of England, George I, was also elector 
of Hanover and a member of the Holy Roman Empire.^ 

925. England and the "Balance of Power." William of 
Orange had been a continental statesman before he became king 
of England, and his chief aim had always been to prevent France 
from becoming overpowerful. He had joined in the War of the 
Spanish Succession in order to maintain the ''balance of power" 
between the various European countries.^ During the eighteenth 
century England continued, for the same reason, to engage in 
the struggles between the continental powers, although she had 
no expectation of attempting to extend her sway across the Chan- 
nel. The wars which she waged in order to increase her own 

1 Originally there had been seven electors (§ 728), but the duke of Bavaria had been 
made an elector during the Thirty Years' War, and in 1692 the father of George I had 
been permitted to assume the title of " Elector of Hanover." 

2 James I (1603-1625) 

I ^ 1 

Charles I Elizabeth, m. Frederick V, 



(1625-1649) 



elector of the 

Palatinate 
(Winter King 
of Bohemia) 



Charles II Anne Hyde, m. James II, m. Mary of Sophia, m. Ernest 
(1660-1685) I (1685-1688) Modena August 



William III, m. Mary Anne 

(1689-1702) (1689-1694) (1702-1714) 



Augustus, 
elector of 
Hanover 



George I 
(1714-1727) 



George II 
James (the (1727-1760) 



Old Pretender) 



Frederick, 



I Prince of Wales 

. Charles Edward (d. 1751) 

(the Young Pre- | 

tender) George III 

(1760-1820) 
3 Wolsey, it will be recalled, advanced the same reason in Henry Vlll's time for 
England's intervention in continental wars (§ 760). 



628 History of Europe 

power and territory were carried on in distant parts of the world 
and more often on sea than on land. 

926. Walpole's Policy of Peace. For a quarter of a century 
after the Treaty of Utrecht, England enjoyed peace.^ Under the 
influence of Sir Robert Walpole, who for twenty-one years di- 
rected the government, peace was maintained within and without. 
Not only did Walpole avoid going to war with other countries 
but he was careful to prevent the ill feeling at home from de- 
veloping into civil strife. His principle was to "let sleeping dogs 
lie"; so he strove to conciliate the dissenters and to pacify the 
Jacobites,^ as those were called who still desired to have the 
Stuarts return. 

927. "Prince Charlie," the Young Pretender, in Scotland. 
When, in 1740, Frederick the Great and the French attacked 
Maria Theresa (§§ 898, 899), England's sympathies were with the 
injured queen. As elector of Hanover, George II (who had suc- 
ceeded his father in 1727) led an army of German troops against 
the French and defeated them on the river Main. Frederick then 
declared war on England ; and France sent the grandson of 
James 11,^ the Young Pretender, as he was called, with a fleet to 
invade England. The attempt failed, for the fleet was dispersed 
by a storm. In 1745 the French defeated the English and Dutch 
forces in the Netherlands ; this encouraged the Young Pretender 
to make another attempt to gain the English crown. He landed 
in Scotland, where he found support among the Highland chiefs, 
and even Edinburgh welcomed "Prince Charlie." He was able 
to collect an army of six thousand men, with which he marched 
into England. He was quickly forced back into Scotland, how- 
ever, and after a disastrous defeat on Culloden Moor (1746) and 
many romantic adventures, he was glad to reach France once 
more in safety. 

t Except in 171S-1720, when she joined an alHance against Spain, and her admiral, 
Byng, destroyed the Spanish fleet. 

2 Derived iTom/acol>us, the Latin for James. The name was applied to the adherents 
of James II and of his son and grandson, the elder and younger pretenders to the throne. 

3 The children of James II by his second and Catholic wife, Mary of Modena, had 
been excluded from the throne at the accession of William and Mary. 



How England became Queen of the Ocean 629 

Soon after the close of the War of the Austrian Succession in 
1748, England entered upon a series of wars which were destined 
l^rofoundly to affect not only her position but also the fate of 
distant portions of the globe. But before considering these we 
must see what changes were taking place in the English govern- 
ment in the eighteenth century. 

II. The English Limited Monarchy in the 
Eighteenth Century and George III 

928. Limited Monarchy of England. In striking contrast to 
the absolute rule of the "benevolent despots" on the Continent, 
the island of Britain was, as we have seen, governed by its Par- 
liament. There the king, from the Revolution of 1688 on, had 
owed his crown to Parliament and admitted that he was limited 
by the constitution, which he had to obey. This did not prevent 
at least one English king from trying to have his own way in spite 
of the restrictions placed upon him, as we shall see. 

929. Whigs and Tories. There were two great political parties 
in England — the Whigs, successors of the Roundheads, who ad- 
vocated the supremacy of Parliament and championed toleration 
tor the Dissenters ; and the Tories, who, like the earlier Cavaliers 
(§ 839), upheld the divine right of kings and the suprem- 
acy of the Anglican, or Established, Church. After the death 
of Anne many of the Tories favored calling to the throne the son 
of James II (popularly called "the old Pretender"), whereupon 
the Whigs succeeded in discrediting their rivals by denouncing 
..hem as Jacobites and traitors. They made the new Hanoverian 
king, George I, believe that he owed everything to the Whigs, 
and for a period of nearly fifty years, under George I and 
George II, they were able to control Parliament. 

930. Robert Walpole, Prime Minister (1721-1742). George I 
himself spoke no English, was ignorant of English politics, and 
was much more interested in Hanover than in his new kingdom. 
He did not attend the meetings of his ministers, as his predecessors 
had done, and turned over the management of affairs to the Whig 



630 History of Europe 

leaders. They found a skillful "boss" and a judicious statesman 
in Sir Robert Walpole, who maintained his own power and that 
of his party by avoiding war and preventing religious dissensions 
at home. He used the king's funds to buy the votes necessary 
to maintain the Whig majority in the House of Commons and 
to get his measures through that body. He was England's first 
"prime minister." 

931. Development of the Cabinet and the Office of Prime 
Minister. The existence of two well-defined political parties 
standing for widely different policies forced the king to choose 
all his ministers from either one or the other. The more promi- 
nent among his advisers came gradually to form a little group 
who resigned together if Parliament refused to accept the measures 
they advocated. In this way the "cabinet government," begun 
under William III, developed, with a prime minister, or premier, 
at its head. Under weak monarchs the prime minister would 
naturally be the real ruler of the kingdom. 

932. The Position of the King. It was still possible, to be 
sure, for the king to profit by the jealousies of rival statesmen 
and by favoring first one, then another, to keep the upper hand. 
This was especially the case after the Tories gave up hope 
of restoring the Stuarts, upon the failure of Prince Charles in 
1745 (§927), so that the Hanoverian kings no longer needed to 
rely upon the Whigs as the one loyal party. 

933. George III and Parliament. Finally, George III, whc 
came to the throne in 1 760, succeeded in getting a party of his own, 
known as the " King's Friends," and with their aid, and a liberal 
use of what would now be regarded as bribery and graft, rar 
the government much as he wanted to. His mother, a Germany- 
princess, had taught him that he ought to be a king like those... 
on the Continent ; and, in spite of the restrictions, of Parliament 
he did rule in a high-handed and headstrong way. During th< 
war with the American colonies, which soon broke out, he was 
practically his own prime minister. 

934. Growing Demand for Reform. The really weak spot 
in the English constitution, however, was less the occasional- 



How England became Queen of the Ocean 631 

high-handedness of the king than the fact that Parliament did not 
represent the nation as a whole. Already in the eighteenth cen- 
tury there was no little discontent with the monopoly which the 
landed gentry and the rich enjoyed in Parliament. There was 
an increasing number of writers to point out to the people the 
defects in the English system. They urged that every man should 
iiave the right to participate in the government by casting his vote 

md that the unwritten constitution of England should be written 
down and so made clear and unmistakable. Political clubs were 

ounded, which entered into correspondence with political societies 
\n France ; newspapers and pamphlets poured from the press in 
enormous quantities, and political reform found champions in the 
House of Commons. 

935. The Younger Pitt. This demand for reform finally in- 
duced the younger Pitt, son of the Earl of Chatham, who was 
prime minister from 1783 to 1801, to introduce bills into the House 
v.f Commons for remedying some inequalities in representation. 
rJut the violence and disorder accompanying the French Revolu- 

ion, which began in 1789, involved England in a long and 
tedious war and discredited reform with Englishmen who had 
formerly favored change, to say nothing of the Tories, who re- 
•j;arded with horror any proposal looking toward an extension of 
I opular government. 

936. England had a Modern Free Government but not a 
Democracy. It is clear that England possessed the elements of a 
modern free government, for her king was master of neither the 
T.ersons nor the purses of his subjects, nor could he issue arbi- 
trary laws. Political affairs were discussed in newspapers and 
pamphlets, so that weighty matters of government could not be 
decided secretly in the king's closet without the knowledge of his 
subjects. Nevertheless it would be far from correct to regard 
the English system as democratic. 

A hereditary House of Lords could block any measure intro- 
duced in the House of Commons, and the House of Commons 
itself represented not the nation but a small minority of land- 
owners and traders. Government offices were monopolized by 



632 History of Europe 

members of the Established Church, and the poor were oppressed 
by cruel criminal laws administered by officials chosen by the 
king. Workingmen were prohibited from forming associations 
to promote their interests. It was more than a century after the 
accession of George III before the English peasant could go to 
the ballot box and vote for members of Parliament. 



III. How Europe began to extend its Commerce 
OVER the Whole World 

937. Vast Extent of the European Colonial Dominion. The 

long and disastrous wars of the eighteenth century were much 
more than merely quarrels of monarchs. They were caused also 
by commercial and colonial rivalries, and they extended to the 
most distant parts of the world. In the War of the Spanish Suc- 
cession the trade of Spain was at stake as well as the throne. 
From the seventeenth century on, the internal affairs of each 
country have been constantly influenced by the demands of its 
merchants, and the achievements of its sailors and soldiers, fight- 
ing rival nations or alien peoples thousands of miles from London, 
Paris, or Vienna. The great manufacturing towns of England — 
Leeds, Manchester, and Birmingham — owe their prosperity to 
India, China, and Australia. Liverpool, Amsterdam, and Triest, 
with their long lines of docks and warehouses and their fleets of 
merchant vessels, would dwindle away if their trade were con- 
fined to the demands of their European neighbors. 

Europe includes scarcely a twelfth of the land upon the globe, 
and yet over three fifths of the world is to-day either occupie.i 
by peoples of European origin or ruled by European states. The 
possessions of France in Asia and Africa exceed the entire area of 
Europe ; even the little kingdom of the Netherlands administers 
a colonial dominion three times the size of Germany. The British 
Empire, of which the island of Great Britain is but a hundredth 
part, includes one fifth of the world's dry land. Moreover, 
European peoples have populated the United States (which is 
nearly as large as all of Europe), Mexico, and South America. 



How England became Queen of the Ocean 633 

The widening of the field of European history is one of the 
most striking features of modern times. Though the Greeks and 
Romans carried on a large trade in silks, spices, and precious 
stones with India and China, they really knew little of the world 
beyond southern Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia, and 
much that they knew was forgotten during the Middle Ages. 
Slowly,, however, the interest in the East revived, and travelers be- 
:gan to add to the scanty knowledge handed down from antiquity. 

SS8. Colonial Policy of Portugal, Spain, and Holland. The 
voyages which had brought America and India within the ken 
of Europe during the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries were, 
as we know, mainly undertaken by the Portuguese and the 
Spaniards. Portugal was the first to realize the advantage of 
extending her commerce by establishing stations in India after 
Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1498 (§ 673) ; 
and later by founding posts on the Brazilian coast of South 
America ; then Spain laid claim to Mexico, the West Indies, 
and a great part of South America. These two powers later found 
a formidable rival in the Dutch, who succeeded in expelling the 
Portuguese from a number of their settlements in India and the 
Spice Islands and brought Java, Sumatra, and other tropical 
regions under Dutch control. 

939. The French and English in North America. In North 
America the chief rivals were England and France, both of which 
succeeded in establishing colonies in the early part of the seven- 
teenth century. Englishmen settled at Jamestown in Virginia 
(1607), then in New England, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and else- 
where. The colonies owed their growth in part to the influx of 
refugees, — Puritans, Catholics, and Quakers, — who exiled them- 
selves in the hope of gaining the right freely to enjoy their par- 
ticular forms of religion. On the other hand, many came in order 
to better their fortunes in the New World, and thousands of bond 
servants and slaves were brought over as laborers. 

Just as Jamestown was being founded by the English the French 
were making their first successful settlement in Nova Scotia and 
at Qu^bep, Although England made no attempt to oppose it, the 



634 History of Europe 

French occupation of Canada progressed very slowly. In 1673 
Marquette, a Jesuit missionary, and Joliet, a merchant, explored 
a part of the Mississippi River. La Salle sailed down the great 
stream and named the new country which he entered, Louisiana, 
after his king. The city of New Orleans was founded, near the 
mouth of the river, in 17 18, and the French established a chain 
of forts between it and Montreal. 

The contest between England and France for the supremacy 
in North America was responsible for almost continuous border 
war, which burst out more fiercely with each war in the Old 
World. Finally, England was able, by the Treaty of Utrecht, to 
establish herself in the northern regions, for France thereby ceded 
to her Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and the borders of Hudson 
Bay (§877). While the English in North America at the be- 
ginning of the Seven Years' War numbered over a million, the 
French did not reach a hundred thousand. 

IV. The Contest between France and England 
FOR Colonial Empire 

940. Extent of India. The rivalry of England and France was 
not confined to the wildernesses of North America, occupied by 
half a million of savage red men. At the opening of the eighteenth 
century both countries had gained a firm foothold on the borders 
of the vast Indian empire, inhabited by two hundred millions of 
people and the seat of an ancient and highly developed civiliza- 
tion. One may gain some idea of the extent of India by laying 
the map of Hindustan upon that of the United States. If the 
southernmost point. Cape Comorin, be placed over New Orleans, 
Calcutta will lie nearly over New York City, and Bombay in 
the neighborhood of Des Moines, Iowa. 

941. The Mongolian Emperors of Hindustan. A generation 
after Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape, a Mongolian conqueror, 
Baber, had established his empire in India. The dynasty of Mon- 
golian rulers which he founded was able to keep the whole country 
under its control for nearly two centuries ; then after the death 



How England became Queen of the Ocean 635 

of the Great Mogul Aurungzeb, in 1707, their empire began to 
fall apart in much the same way as that of Charlemagne had 
done. Like the counts and dukes of the Carolingian period, the 
emperor's officials, the subahdars and nawabs (nabobs), and the 
rajahs (Hindu princes who had been subjugated by the Mongols) 
had gradually got the power in their respective districts into their 




Fig. 163. The Taj Mahal 

This mausoleum of princes was built at Agra, India, in 1632. It has been 
described as " the most splendidly poetic building in the world ... a dream 
in marble, which justifies the saying that the Moguls designed like Titans 
but finished like jewelers." The entire building is of white marble, inlaid 
with precious stones. Although this is regarded as the most perfect monu- 
ment, India has many others of great magnificence, witnesses of the power 

and wealth of her princes 

own hands. Although the emperor, or Great Mogul, as the Eng- 
lish called him, continued to maintain himself in his capital of 
Delhi, he could no longer be said to rule the country at the open- 
ir g of the eighteenth century, when the French and English were 
beginning to turn their attention seriously to his coasts. 

942. English and French Settlements in India. In the time 
■of Charles I (1639) a village had been purchased by the English 



636 History of Europe 

* 

East India Company on the southeastern coast of Hindustan, 
which grew into the important English station of Madras. About 
the same time posts were established in the district of Bengal, and 
later Calcutta was fortified. Bombay was already an English 
station. The Mongolian emperor of India at first scarcely deigned 
to notice the presence of a few foreigners on the fringe of his vas^ 
realms, but before the end of the seventeenth century hostilities 
began between the English East India Company and the native 
rulers, which made it plain that the foreigners would be forced 
to defend themselves. 

The English had to face not only the opposition of the natives 
but that of a European power as well. France also had an East 
India Company, and at the opening of the eighteenth century 
Pondicherry was its chief center, with a population of sixty thou 
sand, of which two hundred only were Europeans. It soon be- 
came apparent that there was little danger from the Great Mogul ; 
moreover, the Portuguese and Dutch were out of the race, so the 
native princes and the French and English were left to fight amon.^ 
themselves for the supremacy. 

943. England Victorious in the Struggle in America (i756- 
1763). Just before the clash of European rulers, known as the 
Seven Years' War, came, in 1756 (§ 901), the French and English 
had begun their struggle in both America and India. In America 
the so-called French and Indian War began in 1754 between the 
English and French colonists. General Braddock was sent from 
England to capture Fort Duquesne, which the French had estab- 
lished to keep their rivals out of the Ohio valley. Braddock knew 
nothing of border warfare, and he was killed and his troops routes 
Fortunately for England, France, as the ally of Austria, was soon 
engaged in a war with Prussia that prevented her from giving 
proper attention to her American possessions. A famous states- 
man, the elder Pitt,^ was now at the head of the English ministr 
He was able not only to succor the hard-pressed king of Pruss 
with money and men but also to support the militia of the thi 
teen American colonies in their attacks upon the French. The 

1 So called to distinguish him from his son, prime minister later (see § 935), 



How England became Queen of the Ocean 637 

French forts at Ticonderoga and Niagara were taken ; Quebec 
was won in Wolfe's heroic attack, 1759 ; and the next year all 
Canada submitted to the English. England's supremacy on the 
sea was demonstrated by three admirals, each of whom destroyed 
a French fleet. 

944. Dupleix and Clive in India. In India conflicts between 
the French and the English had occurred during the War of the 
Austrian Succession. The governor of the French station of 
Pondicherry was Dupleix, a soldier of great energy, who proposed 
to drive out the English and firmly establish the power of France 
over Hindustan. His chances of success were greatly increased 
by the quarrels among the native rulers, some of whom belonged 
to the earlier Hindu inhabitants and some to the Mohammedan 
Mongolians who had conquered India in 1526. Dupleix had very 
few French soldiers, but he began the enlistment of the natives, 
a custom eagerly adopted by the English. These native soldiers, 
whom the English called Sepoys, were taught to fight in the 
manner of Europeans. 

945. Clive renders English Influence Supreme in India. 
But the English colonists, in spite of the fact that they were mainly 
traders, discovered among the clerks in Madras a leader equal 
in military skill and energy to Dupleix himself. Robert Clive, 
who was but twenty-five years old at this time, organized a large 
force of Sepoys and gained a remarkable ascendancy over them 
by his astonishing bravery. 

At the moment that the Seven Years' War was beginning, bad 
news reached Clive from the English settlement of Calcutta, about 
a thousand miles to the northeast of Madras. The nawab of 
Bengal had seized the property of some English merchants and 
imprisoned one hundred and forty-five Englishmen in a little 
room, — the "black hole" of Calcutta, — where most of them died 
of suffocation before morning. Clive hastened to Bengal, and 
with a little army of nine hundred Europeans and fifteen hundred 
Sepoys he gained a great victory at Plassey, in 1757, over the 
nawab's army of fifty thousand men. Clive then replaced the 
nawab of Bengal by a mari whom he believed to be friendly tq 



638 History of Europe 

the English. Before the Seven Years' War was over, the English 
had won Pondicherry and deprived the French of all their former 
influence in the region of Madras. 

946. England's Gains in the Seven Years' War. When the 
Seven Years' War was brought to an end, in 1763, by the Treaty 
of Paris, it was clear that England had gained far more than any 
other power. She was to retain her two forts commanding the 
Mediterranean — Gibraltar, and Port Mahon on the island of 
Minorca ; in America, France ceded to her the vast region of 
Canada and Nova Scotia, as well as several of the islands in the 
West Indies. The region beyond the Mississippi was ceded to 
Spain by France, who thus gave up all her claims to North 
America. In India, France, it is true, received back the towns 
which the English had taken from her, but she had permanently 
lost her influence over the native rulers, for Clive had made the 
English name greatly feared among them. 

V. Revolt of the American Colonies from 

England 

947. England long left her Colonies very Free. England 
had, however, no sooner added Canada to her possessions and 
driven the French from the broad region which lay between her 
dominions and the Mississippi than she lost the better part of 
her American empire by the revolt of the irritated colonists, who 
refused to submit to her interference in their government and 
commerce. 

The English settlers had been left alone, for the most part, by 
the home government and had enjoyed jar greater freedom in the 
management of their affairs than had the French and Spanish 
colonists. Virginia established its own assembly in 16 19 and 
Massachusetts became almost an independent commonwealth. 
Regular constitutions developed, which were later used as the 
basis for those of the several states when the colonies gained their 
independence. By the end of the Seven Years' War (1763) the 
colonists numbered over two millions. Their rapidly increasing 



How England became Queen of the Ocean 639 



wealth and strength, their free life in a new land, the confidence 
they had gained in their successful conflict with the French, — 
all combined to render interference of the home government 
intolerable to them. 

948. Navigation Laws. 
England had, like Spain, 
France, and other colonizing 
countries, enacted a number 
of navigation and trade laws 
by which she tried to keep 
all the benefits of colonial 
trade and industry to her- 
self. The early navigation 
laws passed under Cromwell 
and Charles II were specially 
directed against the enter- 
prising Dutch traders. They 
provided that all products 
grown or manufactured in 
Asia, Africa, or America 
should be imported into Eng- 
land or her colonies only in 
English ships. Thus if a 
Dutch merchant vessel laden 
with cloves, cinnamon, teas, 
and silks from the Far East 
anchored in the harbor of 
New York, the inhabitants 




Fig. 164. The Elder Pitt 

Pitt, Earl of Chatham, more than any 
other one man, was responsible for the 
victories of England in the Seven Years' 
War. A great orator, as well as a shrewd 
statesman, he inspired his country with 
his own great ideals. He boldly upheld 
in Parliament the cause of the American 
colonists, but died in 1778 before he could 
check the policy of the king 



could not lawfully buy of 

the ship's master, no matter how much lower his prices were than 
those offered by English shippers. Furthermore, another act pro- 
vided that no commodity of European production or manufacture 
should be imported into any of the colonies without being shipped 
through England and carried in ships built in England or the 
colonies. So if a colonial merchant wished to buy French wines 
or Dutch watches, he would have to order through English 



640 History oj Europe 

merchants. Again, if a colonist desired to sell to a European 
merchant such products as the law permitted him to sell to 
foreigners, he had to export them in English ships and even send 
them by way of England. 

949. Trade Laws. Certain articles in which the colonists were 
interested, such as sugar, tobacco, cotton, and indigo, could be 
sold only in England. Other things they were forbidden to export 
at all, or even to produce. For instance, though they possessed 
the finest furs in abundance, they could not export any caps or 
hats to England or to any foreign country. The colonists had 
built up a lucrative lumber and provision trade with the French 
West Indies, from which they imported large quantities of rum, 
sugar, and molasses, but in order to keep this trade within British 
dominions, the importation of these commodities was forbidden. 

950. The Colonists evade the English Restrictions. The 
colonists naturally evaded these laws as far as possible ; they 
carried on a flourishing smuggling trade and built up industries in 
spite of them. Tobacco, sugar, hemp, flax, and cotton were grown 
and cloth was manufactured. Furnaces, foundries, nail and wire 
mills supplied pig and bar iron, chains, anchors, and other hard- 
ware. It is clear that where so many people were interested in 
both manufacturing and commerce a loud protest was sure to be 
raised against any attempts of England to restrict the business of 
the colonists in favor of her own merchants. 

But previous to 1763 the navigation and trade laws had been 
loosely enforced and business men of high standing in their com- 
munities ventured to neglect them and engage in illegal trade, 
which from the standpoint of the mother country constituted 
"smuggling." English statesmen had been busy during the pre- 
vious century with the great struggle at home and with the wars 
stirred up by Louis XIV. After the Peace of Utrecht, Walpole for 
twenty years prudently refused to interfere with the independence 
of the colonies. 

951. Change in English Colonial Policy after 1763. With 
the close of the successful Seven Years' War, and the conquest of 
Canada and the Ohio valley, arrangements had to be made to 



Bow England became Queen vj the Ocean 641 

protect the new territories and meet the expenses incident to the 
great enlargement of the British Empire. The home government 
naturally argued that the prosperous colonists might make some 
contribution in the form of taxes to the expenses of the late war 
and the maintenance of a small body of troops ^or guarding the 
new possessions. 

952. The Stamp Act. This led to the passage of the Stamp 
Act, which taxed the colonists by requiring them to pay the Eng- 
lish government for the stamps which had to be used on leases, 
deeds, and other legal documents in order to make them binding. 
This does not appear to modern historians to have been a tyranni- 
cal act, and it was certainly perfectly legal. But it stirred up 
some of the leaders among the colonists, who declared that they 
had already borne the brunt of the recent war and that Parliament 
had no right to tax them since they were not represented directly 
in that body. They forgot that large classes in the mother coun- 
try and in the colonies themselves were no more represented di- 
rectly than they were in Parliament. Whatever may have been 
the merits of their arguments, representatives of the colonies met in 
New York in 1765 and denounced the Stamp Act as indicating 
"a manifest tendency to subvert the rights and liberties of the 
colonists." 

The unpopular stamp tax was repealed, in spite of the opposition 
of King George III, who, with some of the Tory party in Parlia- 
ment, thought that the colonists should be punished rather than 
conciliated. Many of the Whigs were very friendly to them and 
a proposal was made to permit the colonists to tax themselves, but 
Benjamin Franklin, then in England, sadly admitted that they 
vvould not consent to do so. Parliament then decided to raise 
a certain amount by duties on glass, paper, and tea, and a board 
was established to secure a stricter enforcement of the old and 
hitherto largely neglected navigation laws and other restric- 
tions. The protests of the colonists led Parliament, however, to 
remove all the duties except that on tea, which was retained owing 
to the active lobbying of the East India Company, whose interests 
were at stake. 



642 History of Europe 

953. The Boston Tea Party (1773) ; Attitude of Parliament 
toward the Colonists. The effort to make the Americans pay 
a very moderate duty on tea and to force upon the Boston 
markets the Company's tea at a very low price produced trouble 
in 1773. Those who had supplies of "smuggled" tea to dispose 
of and who were likely to be undersold even after the small dut> 
was paid raised a new cry of illegal taxation, and a band of young 
men was got together in Boston who seditiously boarded a teji 
ship in the harbor and threw the cargo into the water. This so 
called Boston Tea Party fanned the slumbering embers of discord 
between the colonies and the mother country. 

A considerable body in Parliament were opposed to coercing 
the colonists. Burke, perhaps the most able member of the House 
of Commons, urged the ministry to leave the Americans to tax 
themselves, but George III, and the Tory party in Parliament, 
could not forgive the colonists for their opposition. They believed 
that the trouble was largely confined to New England and coukl 
easily be overcome. In 1774 acts were passed prohibiting the land- 
ing and shipping of goods at Boston ; and the colony of Massa- 
chusetts was deprived of its former right to choose its judges and 
the members of the upper house of its legislature, who were there- 
after to be selected by the king. 

954. The Continental Congresses. These measures, instead 
of bringing Massachusetts to terms, so roused the apprehension 
of the rest of the colonists that a congress of representatives from 
all the colonies was held at Philadelphia in 1774 to see what could 
be done. This congress decided that all trade with Great Britain 
should cease until the grievances of the colonies had been re- 
dressed. The following year the Americans attacked the British 
troops at Lexington and made a brave stand against them in th( 
battle of Bunker Hill. The second congress decided to prepan 
for war and raised an army which was put under the commanc 
of George Washington, a Virginia planter who had gained som« 
distinction in the late French and Indian War. 

955. Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776). Up to this 
time few people had openly advocated the separation of the 



How England became Queen oj the Ocean 643 

colonies from the mother country, but the proposed compromises 
came to nothing, and in July, 1776, Congress declared that "these 
United States are, and of right ought to be, free and independent." 
The party which favored an attempt to gain independence were 
a minority of the population. The so-called "Tories" who op- 
posed separation from England were perhaps as numerous as the 
" patriots " who advocated the American Revolution ; and the 
other third of the colonists appear to have been indifferent. 

956. The United States receives Aid from France. The Dec- 
laration of Independence naturally excited great interest in 
France. The outcome of the Seven Years' War had been most 
' .nentable for that country, and any trouble which came to her 
old enemy, England, could not but be a source of congratulation 
to the French. The United States therefore regarded France as 
their natural ally and immediately sent Benjamin Franklin to 
Versailles in the hope of obtaining the aid of the new French 
king, Louis XVI. The king's ministers were uncertain whether 
the colonies could long niaintain their resistance against the over- 
whelming strength of the mother country. It was only after the 
Americans had defeated Burgoyne at Saratoga that France, in 
1778, concluded a treaty with the United States in which the in- 
dependence of the new republic was recognized. This was equiva- 
lent to declaring war upon England. The French government 
aided the colonies with loans, and enthusiasm for the Americans 
was so great in France that a number of the younger nobles, the 
most conspicuous of whom was the Marquis of Lafayette, crossed 
the Atlantic to fight as volunteers in the American army. 

957. Success of the Revolution. There was so much difference 
of opinion in England in regard to the expediency of the war and 
so much sympathy in Parliament for the colonists that the mili- 
tary operations were not carried on with much vigor. Neverthe- 
less the Americans found it no easy task to win the war. In spite 
of the skill and heroic self-sacrifice of Washington, they lost 
more battles than they gained. It is extremely doubtful whether 
they would have succeeded in bringing the war to a favorable 
close, by forcing the English general, Cornwallis, to capitulate at 



644 History oj Europe 

Yorktown (1781), had it not been for the aid of the French fleet. 
The chief result of the war was the recognition by England of the 
independence of the United States, whose territory was to extend 
to the Mississippi River. To the west of the Mississippi the vast 
territory of Louisiana still remained in the hands of Spain, as well 
as Florida, which England had held since 1763 but now gave back. 
Spain and Portugal were able to hold their American possessions 
a generation longer than the English, but in the end practically 
all of the Western Hemisphere, with the exception of Canada, 
completely freed itself from the domination of the European 
powers. Cuba, one of the very last vestiges of Spanish rule 
in the West, gained its independence with the aid of the United 
States in 1898. 

958. Great Extension of England's Colonial Possessions. 
England had lost her American colonies as a result of the only im- 
portant and successful revolt that has ever taken place in her 
great empire. This led to the creation of a sister state speaking 
her own language and destined to occupy the central part of the 
North American continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific, She 
still retained Canada, however, and in the nineteenth century 
added a new continent in the southern hemisphere, Australia, to 
her vast colonial empire. In India she had no further rivals among 
European nations and gradually extended her influence over the 
whole region south of the Himalayas. 

959. France in the Eighteenth Century. As for France, she 
had played a rather pitiful role during the long reign of 
Louis XIV's great-grandson, Louis XV (171 5-1774). She had, 
however, been able to increase her territory by the addition of 
Lorraine (1766) and, in 1768, of the island of Corsica. A year 
later a child was born in the Corsican town of Ajaccio, who one 
day, by his military genius, was to make France the center for a 
time of an empire rivaling that of Charlemagne in extent. When 
the nineteenth century opened, France was no longer a monarchy, 
but a republic; and her armies were to occupy in turn every 
European capital from Madrid to Moscow. The marvelous trans- 
formations produced by the French Revolution and the wars of 



How England became Queen of the Ocean 645 

Napoleon, the great changes of the nineteenth century, and the 
causes and course of the recent World War will form the subject 
of the next volume of this history. 



QUESTIONS 

I. What important questions did the accession of William and Mary 
settle ? When and on what terms were England and Scotland united ? 
When and why did the House of Hanover come to the English throne ? 
What do you understand by the " balance of power " ? Who was the 
Young Pretender and what attempts did he make to gain the English 
throne ? 

II. Contrast the limited monarchy of England with the benevolent 
despotism of the Continent. Discuss the two great political parties 
of England. Who was Sir Robert Walpole ? Describe the origin of 
the cabinet. Explain the position of the king during the eighteenth 
century. What was the great cause of dissatisfaction with parlia- 
mentary government in England in the eighteenth century ? 

III. Why must we study the European colonies in order to under- 
stand European history ? What countries preceded England in acquir- 
ing colonies ? Give the possessions of Spain, England, and France in 
North America previous to the Seven Years' War. 

IV. Tell something of the extent and population of India. How did 
England get its first foothold in India ? Where were the French settle- 
ments ? What was the result of the French and Indian War in Amer- 
ica ? in India ? Enumerate England's colonial possessions at the end 
of the war. 

V. Describe England's navigation and trade laws. Give the chief 
events leading to the revolt of England's colonies in America. Were 
the English unanimously in favor of coercing the American colonies ? 
Why did France favor the colonies ? What were the chief results of 
ihe American Revolution ? 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

It is not the aim of this bibliography to mention all of even the important 
books in various languages that relate to the periods in question. The writers 
are well aware that teachers are busy people, and that high-school libraries 
and local public libraries usually furnish at best only a few historical works. 
It is therefore most important that those books should be given prominence 
in this list which the teacher has some chance of procuring and finding the 
time to use. It not infrequently happens that the best account of a particular 
period or topic is in a foreign language or in a rare publication, such as a 
doctor's dissertation, which could only be found in one of our largest libraries. 
All such titles, however valuable, are omitted from this list. They can be 
found mentioned in all the more scholarly works in the various fields. 

The part of this bibhography which relates to ancient and classical times 
has been arranged to facilitate the selection of a small high-school library. 
The particularly good and available books which on an average would not 
cost more than $1.50 or ^2.00 are indicated with a dagger (t) before the title. 
From these a selection can be made. Books deemed especially valuable are 
in some cases indicated by the double dagger (tt). All books with a star (*) 
are suited chiefly for the teacher and are rather advanced for the high-school 
student. Where a book is referred to often, the star or dagger usually appears 
only with the first mention. 

The authors would urge upon the teachers the importance of illustrative 
material, especially in dealing with the ancient and the Greek and Roman 
periods. The references to Breasted's Ancient Times have been inserted 
largely because of its wealth of illustrations. 

CHAPTER I 

General Accounts. *Sollas, Ancient Hunters (second edition). fTvLOR, 
Primitive Culture. tHoERNES, Primitive Man. IMyres, The Dmvn of 
History, chaps, i-ii, vii-xi. An excellent little book in which only the tradi- 
tional Babylonian chronology needs revision. *SiR John Lubbock (Lord 
Avebury), Prehistoric Times. *Osborn, Meii of the Old Stone Age. A very 
valuable and sumptuously illustrated presentation of Early Stone Age life. 
tBREASTED, Ancient Times, chap. i. 

CHAPTER n 

A. Histories. Breasted, History of Egypt. IBreasted, History of the 
Attcient Egyptians. *Hall, The Ancient History of the Near East, chaps, ii- 
iv, vi-viii. Breasted, Ancient Times, chaps, ii-iii. 

647 



648 History of Europe 

B. Art and Archaeology. ]Maspero, A ri in £gy/>L A usefuljittle manual 
in Ars U7ta — spectes vulle. (Hachette & C'S and Scribner's, New York.) 
*Maspero, Manual of Egyptian Archeology. (Last edition, 191 4. Putnam's.) 
tHEDWiG Fechhe[MER,"Z?/> Plastik der Aegypter (t56 beautiful plates show- 
ing the finest examples of Egyptian sculpture. The best series to be had, 
and very low priced). 

C. Mythology and Religion. *Breasted, The Development of Religion and 
Thought in Ancient Egypt. 

D. Social Life. tERMAN, Life in Aficient Egypt. 

E. Excavation and Discovery, t Edwards, Pharaohs, Eellahs, and Ex- 
plorers. *Petrie, Te}t Years' Digging iti Egypt. Weigall, Treasury of the 
Alle. Two quarterly journals begun in 19 14, called Ancient Egypt (edited by 
Petrie; $2.00 a year; subscriptions taken by Dr. W. C. Winslow, 525 Beacon 
Street, Boston, Mass.) and fournal of Egyptian Archceology (published by the 
Egypt Exploration Fund). Both report discoveries in Egypt as fast as made. 

F. Original Sources in English. *Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt, 
Vols. I-V. ^V■E.^Y:K\Y., Egyptian Tales. ^IAaSiVKKO, Popular Stories of Ancient 
Egypt (translated from the French by Mrs. C. H. W. Johns). 

G. The Monuments as they are To-day. The Underwood & Underwood 
series of Egyptian views, edited by tBREASTED, Egypt through the Stereoscope : 
a Journey through the Land of the Pharaohs (100 views with explanatory 
volume and set of maps), t (Selected views, with explanations printed on the 
backs, may be secured at moderate cost. The most useful fifteen on Egypt are 
Nos. 17, 27, 29, 30, 31, 42, 48, 52, 57, 60, 62, 69, 82, 89, 97.) 

H. Wall Maps and Geography. Breasted-Huth, Ancietit History Maps. 
(Denoyer-Geppert Co., 460 E. Ohio St., Chicago, 111.) Maps B i and B 3 ; 
Teacher's Manual (accompanying these maps), pp. 13-19, 33-40. 

CHAPTER III 

A. Histories. King, * Hi story of Su7ner and A hhad diwd * History' of Babylonia. 
tGooDSPEED, History of the Babylonians and Assyrians. Recent discoveries 
have greatly altered the chronology. tC. H. W. Johns, Ancient Babylonia 
(Cambridge Manuals). tC. H. W. Johns, Ancient Assyria (Cambridge 
Manuals). *Hall, The Ancient History of the Xear East, chaps, v, x, xii. 
*Olmstead, Sargon of Assyria. *Rogers, A History of Babylonia and 
Assyria. Breasted, Ancient Limes, chaps, iv-v. 

B. Art and Archaeology. There is no handbook corresponding to Maspero's 
Art in Egypt. *Handcock, Mesopotamian Archccology. *Hall, The Ancient 
History of the jVear East. *Ja.strow, Civilization of the Babylonians and 
Assyrians. 

C. Mythology and Religion. *Jastrow, Aspects of Religious Belief and 
Practice in Babylonia and Assyria. See also his Civilization. 

D. Social Life. ISayce, Babylonian and Assyrian Life and Customs. 
*Jastro\v, Civilization. 



Bibliography 649 

E. Excavation and Discovery. *Rogers, A History of Babylonia and 
Assyria, Vol. I. There is no journal reporting discoveries in Babylonia and 
Assyria (like Ancient Egypt above), but see the new journal of the American 
Archaeological Institute, called Art and ArchcFology ($2.00 a year; subscrip- 
tions taken by The Macmillan Company, 64-66 Fifth Avenue, New York), 
which reports discovery in the whole field of ancient man. 

F. Original Sources in English. *R. F. Harper (Ed.), Assyrian and 
Babylonian Literature. IBotsford, A Source Book of Ancient History, 
chap. iii. *Sayce (Ed.), Records of the Past (First Series, 12 vols.; Second 
Series, 6 vols.). tC. H. W. Johns, Oldest Code of Laws in the World (Laws of 
Hammurapi). *King, Letters of Hantmurapi. 

G. The Monuments as they are To-day. The buildings surviving in Baby- 
lonia and Assyria are in a very ruinous state. Photographs are now available 
in the excellent series by Underwood & Underwood oh Mesopotamia. 

H, Wall Maps and Geography. Breasted-Huth, Ancient History Maps, 
Maps B 2 and B 3. Teacher's Manual, pp. 40-45. 

CHAPTER IV 

A. Histories. There is no good modem history of Persia in English based 
on the sources, but see : t Benjamin, Story of Persia (Story of the Nations 
Series). Meyer, " Persia," in Encyclopccdia Britannica. Rawlinson, Five 
Great Monarchies : Persia. Breasted, ^ ««>;// Ti'w^j, chaps, vi-viii. *Hall, 
The Ancient History of the Near East, chaps, ix and xii. *George Adam 
Smith, The Historical Geography of the Holy Land. The most valuable of 
the many books on Palestine, but a little advanced for high-school pupils. 
*Henry Preserved Smith, Old Testainent History. *Cornill, History of 
the People of Israel. tKENT, History of the Hebrew People. tKENT, History of 
the Jewish People. tMACALISTER, A History of Civilization in Palestine 
(Cambridge Manuals). 

B. Art and Archaeology. *Perrot and Chipiez, History of Art: Persia. 
Rawlinson, Monarchies. 

C. Mythology and Religion. Meyer, " Persia," in Encyclopaedia Britannica. 
Rawlinson, Monarchies. *Budde, The Religion of Israel to the Exile. 
*Cheyne, /^rc7j-/i Religions Life after the Exile. \]. M. Powis Smith, The 
Prophet and his Problems (Scribner's). 

P. Exploration and Discovery, t Jackson, Persia, Past and Present. This 
valuable book is the best introduction to the subject of Persia as a whole 
and contains much information on all the above subjects. IMichaelis, 
A Century of Archceological Discovery. Hilprecht, Recent Research in Bible 
Lands. IMacalister, A History of Civilization in Palestine (Cambridge 
Manuals). Current reports will be found in Journal of the Palestine Explo- 
ration Eiind a.x\d in Art and Archa:ology (see above). 

E. Original Sources in English. ITolman, The Behistan Inscription of 
King Darius. The Persian monuments are not numerous, and this inscription 



650 History of Europe 

of Behistun (or Behistan) is the most important. A considerable part of it 
will be found quoted in Botsford, A Source Book of Ancient History, pp. 57-59. 
The Avesta will be found in the series called Sacred Books of the East. The 
Old Testament in the Revised Version. tMooRE, The Literature of the Old 
Testament. *Cornill, Introduction to the Canonical Books of the Old Testament. 
*ROGERS, Cuneiform Parallels to the Old Testament. tBoTSFORD, A Source 
Book of Ancient History, chap. iv. 

F. Palestine, its People and Monuments as they are To-day. The Under- 
wood & Underwood stereoscopic photographs (edited by Hurlbut), Traveling 
171 the Holy Land through the Stereoscope (loo views with guidebook and 
maps). t(A selection of the best ten would include Nos. 8, 9, 18, 25, 39, 40, 
41, 47, 61, 71.) George Adam Smith, The Historical Geography of the Holy 
Land. Paton, Guide to ferusalem. 

G. Wall Maps and Geography. Breasted-Huth, Ancient History Maps, 
Maps B 2 and B 4. Teacher's Manual, pp. ^7^ 45~50' 

CHAPTER V 

A. Histories, t Botsford, Hellenic History, chaps, i-iii. IWestermann, 
Ancient Nations, pp. 43-50, chaps, vii-viii. tGoODSPEED, Ancient World, pp. 65- 
87. Breasted, Ancient Times, chaps, viii-x. ttMvRES, Dawn of History, 
chaps, viii-ix. IKimball-Bury, 6V/<a'^«/j' C;r^^^, chaps, i-ii. \\'2>\i^\, History 
t'/'G'riP^ff, second edition, chap. i. ttREiNACH, .S/^rj/^.^r;^, pp. 26-32. Hawes, 
Crete the Forerunner of Greece. IBaikie, Sea Kings of Crete. *Mosso, Dawn 
of Mediterranean Civilization. *Hall, Ancient History of the Near East, 
pp. 31-62. tZiMMERN, Greek Commonwealth (second edition). tGREENlDOE, 
Greek Constitutional History, chap. ii. ttCAPPS, Homer to Theocritus, pp. 14- 
128. \Y^%\SL.Y.^, Homeric Life. *S¥^yuouk, Homeric Age. *Sandys, Companion 
to Greek Studies. 

B. Sources and Source Selections. IBotsford, Source Book of Ancient 
History, chaps, vii-ix. fTHALLON, Headings in Greek History, chap. i. 
ttBoTSFORD and Sihler, Hellenic Civilisation, chap. ii. 

C. Maps and Geography. Breasted-Huth, Ancient History Maps, Maps 
B 3, B 5, and B 6. Teacher's Manual, pp. 17-24, 48-55. 

CHAPTER VI 

A. Histories. Botsford, Hellenic History, chap. iv. Westermann, Ancient 
Natiotis, chap. ix. Goodspeed, Ancient World, pp. 79-82, 87-92, loo-ioi. 
Breasted, Ajtcient Times, chap. xi. Kimball-Bury, Students' Greece, chap. iii. 
Bury, Greece, chap. ii. t Allcroft, History of Sicily, chaps, i-ii. Greenidge, 
Greek Constitutional History, chaps, ii-iii. Capps, Homer to Theocritus, pp. 129- 
140. Keller, Colonization, pp. 26-50. Zimmern, Greek Commonwealth. 
Sandys, Companion. 



Bibliography 651 

B. Sources and Source Selections. Botsford and Sihler, Helletik Civi- 
lization, chap. ili. Botsford, Source Book, chap. xi. Herodotus (Rawlinson), 
IV, 150-159. Hesiod and Theognis (CoLLINS). Hesiod I^KlvC). Thallon, 
Readings, chaps, ii-iv. 

C. Wall Maps and Geography. Breasted-Huth, Ancient History Maps, 
Maps B 6 and B 7. Teacher's Manual, pp. 51-60. 

CHAPTER VII 

A. Histories. Botsford, Hellenic History, chaps, vi-ix. Westermann, 
Ancient Nations, chap. x. Goodspeed, Ancient World, pp. ioi-io8, 11 5-1 25. 
Breasted, Ancient Times, chap. xii. Kimball-Bury, Students' Greece, pp. 79- 
89 and chaps, v-vi. Greenidge, Greek Constitutional History, pp. 135-187. 
Bury, Greece, pp. 144-162 and chaps, iv-v. Capps, Homer to Theocritus, 
chaps, vi-vii. ttBENN, Aiicient Philosophy, chaps, i-ii. Reinach, Story of Art, 
pp. 33-41. tMAHAFFY, Social Life in Greece, chaps, iv-v. Zimmern, Greek 
Commonwealth. Sandys, Companion. 

B. Sources and Source Selections. Botsford and Sihler, chap. iv. Bots- 
ford, Source Book, chaps, x, xii-xiv. ^Aristotle's Constitution of Athens (Kenyon 
or Poste), chaps, i-xxii. \ Plutarch's Lives of Theseus and Solon. ^Herodotus, 
I, 29-33, S9~64; III, 39-46, 120-125. Thallon, Readings, chaps, iv and vi. 

C. Wall Maps and Geography. Breasted-Huth, Ancient History Maps, 
Maps B 6 and B 8. Teacher's Manual, pp. 56-61. 

CHAPTER VIII 

A. Histories. 'Bo'Y^yoViV>, Hellenic Histo7y. "Westkruann, Ancient Nations, 
chaps, xi-xiii. Goodspeed, Ancient World, pp. 109-155, 168-173. Breasted, 
Ancient Times, chaps, xiii-xiv. Kimball-Bury, Students' Greece, chaps, vii-x, 
pp. 64-74. Allcroft, History of Sicily, chaps, iii ff. Bury, Greece, chaps, vi-viii. 
Hall, Near East, chap. xii. t Hogarth, Ancient East, pp. 120-186. *Abbott, 
Pericles, chap. iii. *Grundy, Great Persian War. tSElGNOBOS, Ancient Civi- 
lization, chap. xi. Greenidge, Greek Constitutional History, pp. 78-120, 189- 
207. IGrant, Greece in the Age of Pericles, chaps, v-vii. *Abbott, Pericles, 
chaps, iv-viii. Zimmern, Greek Commonwealth. Sandys, Companion. 

B. Sources and Source Selections. Botsford and Sihler, pp. 162-172 and 
chaps, vi-vii. tFLiNG, Source Book of Greek History, chap. v. Botsford, 
Source Book, chaps, xv-xvii. Herodotus, Bks. VI-IX, especially VII, 140-233. 
Plutarch's Lives of Aristides, Themistocles, Pausanias, Cimon, Lycurgus. 
-.i^chybis' Persians, especially Hnes 355-520. Thallon, Readings, chaps, v, 
vii-ix. Xenophon's State of the Lacedamonians. * Aristotle's Athenian Constitu- 
tion, chaps, xxiii-xxvii. MTiucydides (Jowett), I, 98-103, 127-139. 

C. Wall Maps and Geography. Breasted-Huth, Ancient History Maps, 
Maps B 7, B 8, and B 9. Teacher's Manual, pp. 65-69 (Map A). 



652 History of Europe 

CHAPTER IX 

A. Histories. '2>0T?,Y09S), Hellenic History . y^^St^KUAti^, Ancient Naiicv , 
chaps, xiv-xv. Goodspeed, Ancient World, 156-169. Breasted, Ancient 
Times, chap. xv. Kimball-Bury, StnJenis' Greece, chap. xi. SeignoB'> 
Ancient Civilizatioti,c\ia.^.id-v. Bury, Greece, ch2ip. i-x.. GViKUT, Age of Peric/e'^. 
chaps, vii-x, xii. Benn, Ancient Philosophy, chap. iii. ttTARBELL, History 
Greek Afi, chaps, iii, vii, and viii. Capps, Homer to Theocritus, chaps, viii-^ 1 
t Monroe, Histojy 0/ Education, pp. 28-59. Mahaffy, Social Life in Greece. 
chaps, vi ff. Abbott, Pericles, chaps, xvi-xviii. Zimmern, Greek Common- 
wealth. Sandys, Companion. 

B. Sources and Source Selections. Botsford and Sihler, chaps, viii-xi. 
BoTSFORD, Source Book, chap, xviii. Phitarch's Pericles. Thallon, Reading ■, 
chap. ix. 

C. Wall Maps and Geography. Breasted-Huth, Ancient History Maps, 
Map 8. Teacher^s Manual, pp. 61-64. 

CHAPTER X 

A. Histories. BotsvokT), Hellenic History. Wkstermaj^^, Ancient A^ations, 
chap. xvi. Goodspeed, Ancient World, pp. 174-199. Breasted, Ancient 
Times, chap. xvi. Kimball-Bury, Students'' Greece, chaps, xii and xiv. Bur ■ 
G'r^^'tr^, chaps, x-xi. Allcroft, AW/j/. Grant, .(4^^<7/'/Vr?£:/^j, chap. xi. Abbot 1 
Pericles, chaps, xiv-xv. *Ferguson, Greek Imperialism, Lect. II. *Whible^ 
Political Patiies in Athens. ZiMMERN, Greek Commonwealth . 

B. Sources and Source Selections. Botsford and Sihler, chap. vi. 
Botsford, ^i^z^rc^^^^.i', chaps, xix-xx. Fling, 6i7«r<r^ ^c'f/', chap. vii. Plutarch < 
Lives of Alcibiades, Alcias, Lysander. Thucydides (Jowett), Selections. 
Thallon, Readings, chaps, x-xii. 

C. Wall Maps and Geography. Breasted-Huth, Ancient History Map . 
Maps B.9 and B6. Teacher's Manual, pp. 69-70 (Map B). 

CHAPTER XI 

A. Histories. 'BotsvokX), Hellenic Histoty. Wzstekmann, Ancient JVation 
chap, xvii, pp. 193-198. Goodspeed, Ancient World, pp. 184-189, 200-22C 
Breasted, ^«c;>«/ 7/w^j, chaps, xvii-xviii. Kimball-Bury, 6'/?/a'^«/.f' Greect, 
chaps, xv-xvii. Allcroft, History of Greece, 404.-362 B.C. Bury, Greece, 
chaps, xii-xiv. Allcroft, Sicily. Capps, Homer to Theocritus, pp. 330- 
338, chaps, xv-xvii. ISankey, Spartan a7id Theban Supremacies. Mahaffy, 
Social Life in Greece, chaps, vi ff. Benn, Ancient Philosophy, chaps, iv-vi. 
Reinach, Story of Art, pp. 50-58, 66-74. Monroe, History of Education . 
pp. 59-72. Tarbell, Greek Art, chap. ix. Ferguson, Greek Imperialism, 
Lect. III. tTAYLOR, Plato. *Mauthner, Aristotle. Sandys, Companion. 



Bibliography 653 

B. Sources and Source Selections. Botsford, Source Book, chaps, xxii-xxiii. 

\Xenophon''s Anabasis, IV, 7 ff. ; Xetiophon's Agesilaos (Dakyns). Nepos^s 
Epaminondas. Plutarch's Lives of Pelopidas and Timoleon. Thallon, 
Readings, chaps, xiii-xiv. Botsford and Sihler, chaps, xii-xv. Fling, 
Source Book, chap. viii. Thallon, Readings, pp. 513-516, 532-558. Xenophon's 
Economics (Dakyns). Plato's Apology. Selections from Euripides in tApPLE- 
TON, Greek Poets, and in IGoldwin Smith, Specimens of Greek Tragedy. 
Aristophanes' Acharnians and Birds (Frere in Everyman's). 

C. Wall Maps and Geography. Breasted-Huth, Ancieftt History Maps, 
Map B9. Teacher s Manual, pp. 70-72 (Map C). 

CHAPTER XII 

A. Histories. Botsford, Hellenic History. Westermann, Ancient Na- 
tions, pp. 187-193, chaps, xix-xxii. Goodspeed, Ancient World, pp. 220-269. 
Breasted, Ancient Times, chaps, xix-xxi. Kimball-Bury, Students' Greece, 
chaps, xviii-xx. Allcroft, History of Greece, 362-323 b.c. Bury, Greece, 
chaps, xvi-xviii. tHoGARTH, Ancient East, pp. 186-251. Ferguson, Greek 
Imperialism, Lects. IV-VII. Capps, Homer to Theocritus, chaps, xiv, xviii. 
tCuRTEis, Macedonian Ernpij-e. tWHEELER, Alexander. *Gardner, Neiu 
Chapters in Greek History, chap. xv. tSnucKBURGH, Greek History, pp. 235- 
310. Greenidge, 6^n?i'/^ Co7istitutional History, cha.'p- '^^^- ^A.iiA.FFY, Problems 
in Greek Histoiy, chap, ix ; \ Progress of Hellenism, Lects. IJ-V ; *Greek Life 
and Thought, chaps, i-xvi ; Alexander's Empire, chaps, xiv, xx, and xxiii. 
Monroe, History of Education, pp. 73-78. tTucKER, Life in Ancient Athens, 
chap. ix. Tarbell, G^-eek Art, chap. x. tTiLLYARD, Agathocles. *Tarn, 
Antigonos Gonatas. 

■B. Sources and Source Selections. Botsford and Sihler, chaps, xvi-xix. 
Botsford, Source Book, chaps, xxiv-xxvii. Plutarch's Lives of Demosthenes, 
Phocion, Alexander: ^Arrian's Anabasis (selections). Justin, Histoiy, Bk. IX 
(Bohn). Demosthenes's Crown and Third Philippic. Thallon, Readings, 
chap. XV. Davis, Readings, I, chaps, ix-x. Plutarch's Lives of Aratus, Deme- 
trius, Pyrrhus, Agis, Cleomenes, Eumenes. Fling, Source Book, chap. xiii. 
'Polybius's Histories. (Shuckburgh) Selections, especially those on the 
Achaean League. 

C. Wall Maps and Geography. Breasted-Huth, Ancient Histo?y Maps, 
Map B 10. Teacher's Manual, pp. 74-79. 

• CHAPTER XIII 

A. Histories. Botsford, History of Rome, chaps, i-iv. Westermann, 

'..Ancient Nations, chaps, xxiii-xxv. Goodspeed, Ancient World, pp. 276-325, 

331-342. Breasted, Ancient Times, chap. xxii. t Bryant, Short History of 

Rome, chaps, i-vii. t Fowler, Rome, pp. 7-54. IIMyres, Darvn, chap. x. 

Mosso, Daxun of Civilization, chaps, xxi-xxii, xxiv-xxv. Jones, Companion 



654 History of Europe 

to Roman History, pp. 1-12. tHElTLAND, Sho7i. Histoiy of the Roman Republu. 
pp. 1-82. tllow and Leigh, History of Rome, pp. 1-131. tPELHAM, Outlines. 
pp. 45-67. ttABBOTT, Roman Political Institutions, z\vai\^.\v . ICarter, Religion 
of Numa. *Frank, Roman Imperialism. 

B. Sources and Source Selections. Botsford, Story of Rome, chaps, i-iv 
Source Book, chaps, xxix-xxxi. MuNRO, Source Book, chaps, i, ii, iv, and ^ 
Plutarch's Lives of Romulus, Numa, Pyrrhics, Camillus. Davis, Source Reai 
ings, II, pp. 1-40. 

C. Wall Maps and Geography, Breasted-Huth, Ancient Histoty Map. 
Maps B II and B 12. Teacher's Manual, pp. 13-17, 25-32 (Italy), 80-96. 



CHAPTER XIV 

A. Histories. '2>ot%yov^t>, Histoiy of Rome, c\^'3.'^.-<i. W estkrmahn, Ancief 
Nations, pp. 275-276, 279-284, chaps, xxvi-xxvii. Goodspeed, Ancient IVorLt, 
pp. 326-354. Breasted, Ancient Times, chaps, xxiii-xxiv. Bryant, Sho)i 
History, pp. 67-79 ^"^ chaps, ix-xi. Fowler, Rome, pp. 55-110. Heitlani>, 
Short Histo7y, pp. 82-97. tLiDDELL, Studenfs Rome, pp. 218-229, 256-320. 
*Greenidge, Rofnan Public Life, chap. vii. How and Leigh, Rome, pp. 131 
244. tSMlTH, Carthage and the Carthaginians. Frank, Roman Imperialism 
*Havell, Republican Rome, pp. 156-274. Heitland, Short History, pp. 98 
145. *MoRRIS, Hannibal. 

B. Sources and Source Selections. Botsford, Stor}> of Rome, pp. 101-124 : 
Source Book, chaps, xxxii-xxxiii. Munro, Source Book, chaps, ill and vi. Davi 
Source Readings, II, pp. 41-50 and chap. iii. Polybius, I, 56-62; III, 49-51 
iLivy, xxi, 32-38. Plutarch's Lives of Fabius and Marcellus. 

C. Wall Maps and Geography. Breasted-Huth, Ancient History Map 
Maps B13 (A) and B14 (A-D). Teacher's Manual, pp. 97-100, 106-109. 



CHAPTER XV 

A. Histories. Botsford, History of Rome, pp. 116-150. Westermani', 
Ancient Nations, chaps, xxix-xxx. Goodspeed, Ancient World, pp. 354-36 , 
365-392. Breasted, Ancient Times, chap. xxv. Bryant, Short Histor 
chaps, xii-xiv. Fowler, Rome, pp. 110-135. tMASOM, Rome, ijj-y8 b.c 
chap. i. IAllcroft and Masom, Rome, 202-ijj k.c, chaps, x-xiv. IDavi.. 
Influence of Wealth in Imperial Rome, chap. ii. Abbott, Roman ^Politici' 
Institutions, chap. v. GREEN IDGE, Rovian Public Life, chap, viii ; * Roman Hi 
tory. Vol. I, chap. i. *Duff, Literary History of Rome, pp. 92-117. PELHA^ 
Outlines, pp. 149-198. Heitland, Short History, pp. 146-248. tABBOTi, 
Society and Politics in Ancient Rome, pp. 22-40. 

B. Sources and Source Selections. Botsford, Story of Rome, pp. 125-1: ^ 
and chap, vi; Source Book, chaps, xxxiv-xxxv. Davis, Source Readings, II, 



Bibliography 655 

pp. 85-104. MuNRO, Source Book, chaps, vii and xii. Livy, xxxiv, i-8 ; xlv, 
10-12. Plutarch's Lives of Cato the Censor, Flammitis, ALmilius Paulus. 

C. Wall Maps and Geography. Breasted-Huth, A7tcient History Maps, 
Map B 14 (E). Teacher's Manual, pp. 109-ui. 

CHAPTER XVI 

A. Histories, Botsford, History of Rome, chaps, vii-viii. Westermann, 
Ancient A^ations, chaps, xxxi-xxxiv and pp. 379-382. Goodspeed, Ancient 
Wo7id, pp. 392-42S. Breasted, Ancient Times, chap. xxvi. Bryant, Sho7i. 
Histoiy, chaps, xv-xxvi. Fowler, Rome, pp. 136-186. Heitland, Shoii. His- 
tory, pp. 249-512. t Abbott, Common People of Ancient Rome, pp. 235-286. 
Pelham, Outlines, Y)^. 201-258, 398-469. Abbott, Roman Political Institutions, 
chaps, vi-vii. How and Leigh, Roine, pp. 331-551. IPreston and Dodge, 
Private Life of the Romans, chap. v. tALLCROFT, Rome, 78-ji B.C. Frank, 
Roman Imperialism. *JONES, Companion to Roma?t Histojy. *FowLER, Ccesar. 
*Strachan-Davidson, Cicero. 

B. Sources and Source Selections. Botsford, Story of Rome, chaps, vii-viii ; 
Source Book, chaps, xxxvi-xxxvii. Munro, Source Book, pp. 180-185 and 
chap. viii. Davis, Source Readings, II, pp. 105-162. Plutarch's Lives of Tiberius 
and Gaitis Gracchus, Marius, Sulla, Crassus, Pompey, Cicero, Ccesar, Sertorius. 
\ Ccesar' s Gallic War, I, 42-47. Sallusfs fugurthine Jf;/;- (Bohn). 

C. Wall Maps and Geography. Breasted-Huth, Ancietit Histoiy Maps., 
Maps B 14 (E, F, G) and B 15. Teacher's Manual, pp. 109-122. 

CHAPTER XVH 

A. Histories. Botsford, History of Rome, pp. 204-232. Westermann, 
Ancient A'ations, pp. 382-403. GooDSPEED, Ancient World, pp. 428-451. 
Breasted, Ancient Times, chap, xxviii. Fowler, Rome, pp. 187-2 11. Capes, 
Early Empire. *JONES, Roman Empire, chaps, i-iii. tBuRY, Students' Roman 
Empire, chaps, i-xii. Abbott, Roman Political Institutions, chap. xii. Davis, 
Infuence of Wealth, chap. vii. Pelham, Outlines, pp. 357-509. *Firth, 
Augustus, t Fowler, History of Roman Literature, Bk. II. KMackail, 
Roman Literature, Bk. II, chaps, i-v. fTuCKER, Life in the Roman World, 
chap. v. *Arnold, Roman Provincial Administration. 

B. Sources and Source Selections. Botsford, Story of Rome, chaps, ix-x; 
Source Book, chaps, xxxviii-xxxix. Munro, Source Book, chaps, ix and xi. 
Davis, Source Readings, II, pp. 163-196. ILaing, Masterpieces of Latin 
Literature (selections). \The Deeds of Augustus (Fairley's translation in the 
Pennsylvania Translations and Reprints), Vol. V, No. 1. Suetonius' s Lives 
of the Ccesars (selections). ^Tacitus's Annals, XV, 38-45, 60-65. \ Roman 
Farm Management, by a Virginia Farmer (Fairfax Harrison). 

C. Wall Maps and Geography. Breasted-Huth, Ancient History Maps, 
Maps B 13 (B) and B 16. Teacher's Manual, pp. 100-104, 123. 



656 History of Europe 



CHAPTER XVIII 

A. Histories. Botskord, History of Rotne, pp. 232-266. Westermann 
Ancient Nations, pp. 403-435. GooDSPEED, Ancient IVorld, pp. 451-482. 
Breasted, Ancient Times, chap, xxviii. Fowler, Rome, pp. 211-251. Pelham, 
Outli7ies, pp. 509-541. Reinach, Story of Art, pp. 75-83. IPellison, Romav 
Life in Pliny^s Time, chap. ix. *Mau and Kelsey, Pompeii, chaps, vii-viii 
xii-xxii, xlvi-xlviii, Ivi-lix. Tucker, Roman Z?/^, chaps, i-iii, xix-xxi. Green 
IDGE, Roman Public Life, chap. xi. *Hardy, Studies in Roman History. 
Series I, chaps, i-v. Jones, Roman Empire, chaps, iv-vi. Davis, Influence of 
Wealth, chaps, iii-vi. Bury, Students^ Romati Empire. *Cumont, Oriental 
Religions in Roman Paganism (an epoch-making work). *Glover, Conflic 
of Religions in the Early Roman Empire (a valuable account of the rivals o' 
Christianity). 

B. Sources and Source Selections. Botsford, Stoty of Rome, chap, xi 
Source Book, chap. xl. Davis, Source Readings, II, pp. 196-287. Munro 
Source Book, pp. 162-171, 176-179. Letters of Pliny (Firth). New Testament. 
The Acts. 

C. Wall Maps and Geography. Breasted-Huth, Ancient History Maps. 
Maps B 13 (B) and B 16. Teacher's Manual, pp. 123-128. 

CHAPTER XIX 

A. Histories. '^oi%vov.Y),Historyof Rome,c\iz.^.\\\. Westermann, Ancient 
Nations, chaps, xl-xli. Goodspeed, Ancient IForld, pp. 483-501. Breasted. 
Ancient Times, chap. xxix. Jones, Roman Empire, chaps, vii-xi. Oman, 
Byza7itine Empire, chap. ii. Abbott, Roma?i Political Institutions, chap. xvi. 
*Wright, Palmyra and Zenobia, chaps, xi-xv. Seignobos, Ancient Civiliza- 
tion, pp. 332-346. Davis, Outline History, pp. 130-183. Pelham, Outlines, 
pp. 577-586. tCuTTS, St. Jerome. Jones, Companion to Roman History. 
*Cotterill, Medieval Italy, pp. 21-54. Davis, Influence of Wealth, chap. viii. 
*Uhlhorn, Conflict of Christianity ivith Heathenism, pp. 420-479. *Firth, 
Constantitie. *DiLL, Romati Society in the Last Century of the Western Empire 
(excellent). 

B. Sources and Source Selections. Botsford, Source Book, chs,.^^. xli-xliii, 
xlv. Davis, &«;r^' Readings, II, pp. 287-389. Munro, Sottrce Book, pp. 171- 
174. tRoBINSON, Readings in Eutvpean History, Vol. I, pp. 14-27. The 
Notitia Dignitatum (Pettti sylvan /a Translations and Reprints). 

C. Wall Maps and Geography. Breasted-Huth, Ancient History Maps, 
Map B 16 (Insert). Teacher's Manual, pp. 128-130. 



Bibliography 657 

CHAPTER XX 

A. General Reading. The best short accounts of the barbarian invasions 
are Emerton, Introduction to the Middle Ages, chaps, i-vii, and Thorndike, 
History of Medieval Europe, chaps, iii and v. Oman, The Dark Ages, gives a 
somewhat fuller narrative of the events. Adams, G. B., Civilization during 
the Middle Ages, chaps, i, ii, iv, and v, discusses the general conditions and 
results. 

B. Source Material. The textbook and the collateral reading should always 
be supplemented by examples of contemporaneous material. Robinson, 
Readings in European History, Vol. I (from the barbarian invasions to the 
opening of the sixteenth century) and Vol. II (from the opening of the six- 
teenth century to the present day), arranged to accompany chapter by chapter 
Robinson's Introduction to the History of IFestern Europe, will be found 
especially useful in furnishing extracts which reenforce the narrative together 
with extensive bibliographies and topical references. 

For extracts relating to the barbarian invasions, see Robinson, Readings, 
Vol. I, pp. 28-55. Ogg, a Source Book of Mediaval History, chaps, i-iv. Much 
more extensive are the extracts given in Hayes, C. H., An Introduction to the 
Sources relating to the Germanic Invasions, 1909 (Columbia University Studies 
in History, Economics, and Public Law, Vol. XXXIII, No. III). See also 
Thatcher and McNeal, A Source Book for Mediceval History. 

C. Historical Atlases. Constant use should be made of good historical 
atlases. By far the best and most convenient for the high school is Shepherd, 
Wm. R., Historical Atlas, 191 1 (see maps 43, 45, 48, 50-52). Dow, Earle E., 
Atlas of European History, 1907, also furnishes clear maps of the chief changes. 

D. Additional Reading. Hodgkin, the author of an extensive work in 
eight volumes on Italy and her Invaders, has written two small works. Dynasty 
of Theodosius and Theodoric the Goth. Sergeant, The Franks, may be recom- 
mended. Every historical student should gain some acquaintance with the 
celebrated historian Gibbon. Although his Decline and Fall of the Roman 
Empire was written about a century and a half ago, it is still of great interest 
and importance and is incomparable in its style. The best edition is published 
by The Macmillan Company, with corrections and additions by a competent 
modem historian, J. B. Bury. The Cambridge Medieval History, by various 
writers, now in course of publication, devotes its first volume to the period 
in question. 

E. Guide to the Study of the Middle Ages. An admirable syllabus, guide, 
and exhaustive bibliography for the study of the Middle Ages may be found 
in the compilation of Paetow, L. J., A Guide to the Study of Mediceval History, 
1917. This is indispensable to anyone making a serious study of the period. 



658 History of Europe 



CHAPTER XXI 

A. General Reading. For short accounts of the development of the papacy, 
see Thorndike, History of Medieval Europe, chap, vi; -Flick, The Rise , 
the Mediaeval Church ; and Walker, The History of the Christian Churc 
Church histories are usually written either by Catholics or Protestants, wl 
naturally differ in their interpretation of events. One may refer to Fishe 
History of the Christian Church (Protestant), or Alzog, Manual of Universal 
Church History (Catholic). Milman, History of Latin Christianity, althougli 
old, is scholarly and readable and to be found in many good libraries. Cam- 
bridge MedicEval History, Vol. I, chaps, iv, vi. Newman, Manual of Churci 
History, Vol. I (Protestant). 

B. Source Material. Robinson, Readings, Vol. I, pp. 14-27 and chap. iv. 
By far the best collection of illustrative sources is to be found in Ayer, J. C 
A Source Book of Ancient Church History, 191 3. 

CHAPTER XXn 

A. General Reading. Thorndike, History of MedicEval Europe, chaps, ix-x. 
Workman, EvohUion of the Monastic Ideal. Taylor, Henry O., Classical 
Heritage of the Middle Ages, — admirable chapter on Monasticism. Harnack, 
Monasticism, a little book by a very distinguished church historian. Accounts 
of the rise of the monks will be found in all the church histories referred to in 
the bibliography for Chapter XXI. 

B. Source Material. Robinson, Readings, chap. v. There is a Life of 
St. Columdan, written by one of his companions, which, although short and 
simple in the extreme, furnishes a better idea of the Christian spirit of the 
sixth century than the longest treatise by a modem writer. This life may be 
found in Translations and Reprints, Vol. II, No. 7, translated by Professor 
Munro. The chief portions of the Benedictine Rule may be found in 
Henderson, E. F., Select Historical Documents of the Middle Ages, pp. 74 ff., 
and in Thatcher and McNeal, A Source Book for Mediceval History, pp. 432 ff . 
There is an excellent translation by Brehaut of Gregory of Tours, History 
of the Franks. See map, pp. 46-47, in Shepherd, Historical Atlas, showing 
spread of Christianity in Europe. 

C. Additional Reading. Cambridge Mediceval History, Vol. II, chap. xvi. 
The most complete history of the monks is by the French writer Montalem- 
BERT, The Monks of the West frotn St. Benedict to St. Bertiard, which has 
been translated into English (6 vols.). The writer's enthusiasm and excellent 
style make the work very attractive. 

D. Mohammed and his Followers. For Mohammed and the Saracens, see 
Thatcher and Schwill, Europe in the Middle Age, chap. xv. Oilman, The 
Saracens. Oibbon has a famous chapter on Mohammed and another on the 



Bibliography 659 

conquests of the Arabs. These are the fiftieth and fifty-first of his great work. 
Cambridge Mediivval History, Vol. II, chaps, x-xii. 

E. Source Material. It is not hard to find a copy of one of the English 
translations of the Koran. See brief extracts in Robinson, Readings, and in 
Ogg, Source Book of Mediczval History, pp. 97 ff. Stanley Lane-Poole, 
Speeches and Table Talk of Mohammed, is very interesting, 
k F. Additional Reading. Muir, Life of Mohammed. Ameer Ali, The Life 
and Teachings of Mohammed, a Short History of the Saracens, by one who 
sympathizes with them. 

CHAPTER XXIII 

A. General Reading. Emerton, /}iiroductio7i to the Middle Ages, chaps, xii- 
xiv. Thorndike, History of Medieval Eicrope, chaps, xi-xii. Bryce, Holy 
Roman Empire, chaps, iv-v. Henderson, History of Germany in the Middle 
Ages, chaps, iv-v. Oman, Dark Ages, chaps, xix-xxii. 

B. Source Material. Robinson, Readings, pp. 120-125 and chap. vii. 
Duncalf and Krey, Parallel Source Problems in Mediceval History, pp. 3-26. 

C. Additional Reading. Hodgkin, Charles the Great, a small volume. 
MoMBERT, A History of Charles the Great, the most extensive treatment in 
English. Cambridge Mediceval History, Vol. II, chaps, xviii-xix. 



CHAPTER XXIV 

A. General Reading. Emerton, Introduction to the Middle Ages, chap. xv. 
Thorndike, History of Medieval Etirope, chaps, xiii-xiv. Oman, Dark Ages, 
chaps, xxiii-xxv. Emerton, Mediceval Etirope, chap. xiv. Adams, Civilization 

luring the Middle Ages, chap. ix. 

B. Source Material. Robinson, Readings, chaps, viii-ix. Ogg, Source Book 
of MedicEval History, chap. x. Thatcher and McNeal, A Source Book for 
Medieval History, pp. 341-417. 

C. Additional Reading. Seignobos, Feudal Regime (excellent). See " Feu- 
dalism," in Encyclopedia Britannica, nth ed. Ingram, History of Slavery and 
Serfdom, especially chaps, iv-v. Cheyney, Industrial and Social History of 
England. Cambridge Mediceval History, Vol. II, chap. xx. MuNRO and 
Sellery, Mediceval Civilization, pp. 159-212. 

CHAPTER XXV 

A. General Reading. There are a number of convenient general histories of 
England during the Middle Ages which can be used to supplement the short 
account here given: Cheyney, Short History of Eingland; Green, Short 
History of the English People; Cross, A. L., A History of England and 
Greater Britain, chaps, iv-xviii ; Andrews, Charles M., History of England; 



66o History of Europe 

Terry, History of England; and a number of others. For France, Adams, 
G. B., Growth of the French N^ation ; DURUY, History of France; and a more 
recent treatment by Davis, W. S., The History of France. 

B. Source Material. Robinson, Readings, chaps, xi, xx. There are several 
source books of English history: Cheyney, Readings in English History, 
chaps, iv-xii ; Colby, Selections from the Sources of English History ; Lee, 
Source-Book of English History; Kendall, Source Book of English History. 

C. Additional Reading. There is, of course, a great deal more available 
in English relating to English history than to the history of the continental 
countries. One will find plenty of references to the more extensive works in 
any of the books mentioned above. Especially valuable are the great series 
edited by Oman, Hunt, and Poole, on the political history of England, and 
Traill and Mann, Social England. The indispensable guide to a study of 
the Magna Carta (Great Charter) is McKechnie, Magna Carta. 



CHAPTER XXVI 

A. General Reading. 'Khi^kTlOU, Mediceval Europe, c\\?LT^?,.in--x.. Henderson, 
E. F., History of Germatiy in the Middle Ages. A clear and scholarly account 
of the whole period. Thorndike, Histoiy of Medieval Europe, chap. xv. 
Davis, H. W. C, Medieval Europe, chaps, v-vii. 

B. Source Material. Robinson, Readings, Vol. I, chaps, xii-xiv. Duncalf 
and Krey, Parallel Source Problems in Mediccval History, Problem II 
(Canossa). Thatcher and McNeal, A Source Book for Mediaval History, 
Section III, pp. 132-259. 

C. Additional Reading. Tout, The Empire and the Papacy, with chief 
attention to the strictly political history. Bryce, Holy Rotnati Empire, 
chaps, viii-xi. Excellent maps for the period will be found in Shepherd, 
Historical Atlas. 

CHAPTER XXVII 

A. General Reading. Emerton, Mediaval Europe, chap. xi. Tout, Tlic 
Empire and the Papacy, chaps, vii, viii, xiii, xiv, xix. Thorndike, History cf 
Medieval Europe, chap. xvi. Davis, Medieval Europe, chap. viii. Munro and 
Sellery, MedicEval Civilization, pp. 240-276. Adams, Civilization during the 
Middle Ages, chap, xi, for discussion of general results. 

B. Source Material. Robinson, Readings, chap. xv. Thatcher and 
McNeal, A Source Book for Mediceval History, Section IX, pp. 510-544. 
Translations and Reprints, published by the Department of History of th< 
University of Pennsylvq^nia, Vol. I, Nos. 2, 4, and Vol. Ill, No. i. 

C. Additional Reading. Archer and Kingsford, 77/-? Crwjaa'^i-. Gibbon, 
Decline and Fall of the Roman Etnpire, chaps. Iviii-lix. See " Crusades," in 
Encyclopcedia Britannica, nth ed. 



Bibliography 66 1 

CHAPTER XXVIII 

A. General Reading. The available material on this important subject is 
rather scattered. In Robinson's Western Europe, chaps, xvi, xvii, xxi, a some- 
what fuller account of the Church is given. See ^yiB.KTO'H, Mediteval Europe, 
chap. xvi. The works of Flick and Walker referred to under Chapter XXI 
above are useful brief treatments. Special topics can be looked up in the 
Encyclopadia Britannica, the Catholic Encyclopa:dia, or any other good 
encyclopedia. 

B. Source Material. Robinson, Readings, Vol. I, chaps, xvi, xvii, xxi. 
TH.A.TCHER and McNeal, A Source Book for Alediaval History, contains 
many important documents relating to the Church. 

C. Additional Reading. Cutts, Pai-ish Priests aiid their People. The 
opening chapter of Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the /Middle Ages, 
gives a remarkable account of the medieval Church and the abuses which 
prevailed. The first volume also contains chapters upon the origin of both the 
Franciscan and Dominican orders. For St. Francis the best work is Sabatier, 
St. Erancis of Assisi. See also Gasquet, English Monastic Life; Jessopp, 
77/1? Coming of the Eriars, and Other Historic Essays; Creighton, History of 
the Papacy, introductory chapter. 

CHAPTER XXIX 

A. General Reading. Emerton, Mediceval Europe, chap. xv. Davis, Medi- 
eval Europe, chap. ix. Thorndike, History of Aledieval Europe, chaps, xvii- 
cix, xxxi-xxxii. Hulme, Renaissance and Reformation. Emerton, The 
Beginnings of Modern Europe, chaps, iv-v, ix-x. 

Historians are so accustomed to deal almost exclusively with political events 
'hat one looks to them in vain for much information in regard to town life in 
the Middle Ages and is forced to turn to special works: Gibbins, History of 
Commerce, best short account with good maps; Cunningham, IVestern Civili- 
sation in its Economic Aspects, Vol. II; Cheyney, Industrial atid Social His- 
tory of England \ Gibbins, Industrial History of England; Day, C, History 
of Commerce; 'Lvcyikikt., Social Life in the Time of Philip Augustus. Symonds, 
Age of Despots, gives a charming account of town life in Italy in its more 
picturesque aspects. Hamlin, History of Architecture, good introduction. 
Ciood account of early discoveries in Cambridge Modern History, Vol. I, 
chaps, i-ii. 

B. Source Material. Robinson, i'?<'atf'z«^j-. Vol. I, chap, xviii. Ogg, A Source 
/>ook of Mediceval History, chap. xx. Thatcher and McNeal, A Source Book 
for Mediceval History. Section X, pp. 545-612, gives many interesting docu- 
ments. Marco Polo's account of his travels is easily had in English. The best 
edition of Travels of Sir f oh ft Mafideville is that published by The Macmillan 
t ompany, because it contains the accounts on which the anonymous writer 

■f the travels depended for his information. 



662 History of Europe 

CHAPTER XXX 

A. General Reading. Emerton, A/editPvaJ Europe, chsi-p.xm. TAorndike, 
History of Medieval Europe, chaps, xx-xxii. MuNRo and Sellery, Mediaval 
Civilization, pp. 277-357, 458-490. HuLME, Renaissance and Reformation. 
Rashdall, History of the Universities in the Middle Ages, introductory chapters. 

B. Source Material. Robinson, Readings, Vol. I, chap. xix. Steele, 
Mediaval Lore, extracts from an encyclopedia of the thirteenth century. The 
Song of Roland is translated into spirited English verse by O'Hagan. The 
reader will find a beautiful example of a French romance of the twelfth 
century in an English translation of Aucassin and A^icolette. Mr. Steele gives 
charming stories of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries in Huo7i of Bordeaux, 
Renaiid of Montauban, and The Story of Alexander. Malory, Mort d' Arthur, 
a collection of the stories of the Round Table made in the fifteenth century 
for English readers, is the best place to turn for these famous stories. 
Robinson and Kolfe, Petrarch (new enlarged edition, 1914), a collection of 
his most interesting letters. Whitcomb, Literary Source Book of the Italia7i 
Renaissance. CouLTER, Aledueval Garner, a collection of selections from the 
literary sources. 

C. Additional Reading. The best treatment of medieval intellectual history 
is Taylor, H. O., The Meducval Mind, 2 vols. Saintsbury, Flourishing of 
Romance, a. good introduction to medieval literature. Walsh, The Thirteenth, 
the Greatest of Centuries (rather too enthusiastic in its claims). Smith, 
Justin H., The Troubadours at Hotne. Cornish, Chivalry. DeVinne, Inven- 
tion of Printing. Putnam, Books and their Makers during the Middle Ages. 
BurCKHARDT, The Civilization of the Rettaissance in Italy. VAN Dyck, The 
History of Painting. 

CHAPTER XXXI 

A. General Reading. Hayes, C. J. H., Political and Social History of Modern 
Europe, Vol. I, chaps, i, iii (excellent brief account). Johnson, Europe in the 
Sixteenth Century, chaps, i-ii. Cambridge Modern History, Vol. I, chaps, iv, xi. 
See " Charles V," in Encyclopedia Britannica. DURUY, History of France, 
Ninth and Tenth Periods. 

B. Source Material. Robinson, Readings, Vol. II, chap, xxiii. 

C. Additional Reading. Cambridge Modem History, Vol. II, chap. ii. Dyer 
and Hassall, Modern Europe (a political history of Europe in 6 vols.). 
Vol. I. Creighton, History of the Papacy. Pastor, History of the Popes, 
Vol. V. Bryce, Holy Roman Efnpire, chap. xiv. 

CHAPTER XXXH 

A. General Reading. Yihye.s, Modern Europe,No\.l,chz.^.\\. Henderson, 
E. F., Short History of Germany. Johnson, Europe in the Sixteenth Century, 
chaps, iii-v. A good recent discussion of the period is contained in Hulme, 



Bibliography 663 

Renaissance and Reformation. Lindsay, History of the Reformation, Vol. I. 
See "Reformation," in Ettcyclopcedia Britannica, nth ed. 

B. Source Material. Robinson, Readings, Vol. I, chap, xxi, and Vol. II, 
chaps, xxiv-xxvi. Wage and Buchheim (Editors), Ltither''s Primary Works 
and The Augsburg Confession. WhitcomB, Source Book of the German 
Renaissance. Hazlitt, Luihei-'s Table Talk. Smith, Preserved, Lniher^s 
Correspondence and other Contemporary Letters. 

C. Additional Reading. McGiffert, Martin Lnther. Beard, Martin 
Ltdher, especially introductory chapters on general conditions. Creighton, 
History of the Papacy, Vol. VI. Cambridge Modern History, Vol. I, chaps, ix, 
xix, and Vol. II, chaps, iv-viii. Janssen, History of the German People, 
Vols. I-II. Emerton, Desiderius Erasmus, very interesting. Smith, Pre- 
served, The Life and Letters of Martin Luther. Bohmer, Luther in the Light 
of Recent Research. Pearson, Karl, The Ethic of Freethought, chap, ix, on 
the intellectual aspects of Luther's teachings and policy. 

CHAPTER XXXIII 

A. General Reading. Johnson, Europe in the Sixteenth Century, pp. 272 ff. 
See "Zwingli"and "Calvin," in Encyclopedia Brita/inica. Chapters on the 
changes under Henry VIII and Edward VI will be found in all general histories 
of England; for example, Pollard, A. P., History of England (Home Uni- 
versity Library), chap, iv ; Cheyney, Short History of England, chap, xii ; 
Cross, A History of Englatid, chaps, xx-xxii ; Green, Short History of the 
English People, chaps, vi-vii. 

B. Source Material. Robinson, Readings, chap, xxvii. Gee and Hardy, 
Documents Lllustrative of English Church History, pp. 145 ff., very useful 
and full. Cheyney, Readings in English History, chap. xii. 

C. Additional Reading. Cambridge Modern History, Vol. II, chaps, x-xi, 
xiii-xv. Jackson, S. M., Huldreich Zwingli. Lindsay, History of the Reforma- 
tion, Vol. II, Bk. Ill, chaps, i-iii, and Bk. IV. Gasquet, The Eve of the 
Reformation. Pollard, Hemy VIII \ and, by the same. History of England 
from the Accession of Ed-ward VI .to the Death of Elizabeth, — two admirable 
works by one of the most stimulating of modem English historians. 

CHAPTER XXXIV 

A. General Reading. Johnson, Europe in the Sixteenth Century, chaps, vii- 
ix. Hayes, Modern Europe, Vol. I, chaps, v-vi (excellent). Wakeman, Euro- 
pean History, ijgS-ijij, chaps, i-v. The portion of the chapter dealing with 
English affairs can be readily supplemented by means of the general histories 
of England, Cheyney, Cross, Green, Gardiner, Terry, etc. 

B. Source Material. Robinson, Readings, Vol. II, chaps, xxviii, xix. 
^HEYNEY, Readings in English History, chap. xiii. 



664 History of Europe 

C. Additional Reading. Cambridge Modern History, Vol. II, chaps, ix, xvi, 
xviii-xix; Vol. Ill, chaps, i, vi-x, xv, xx ; Vol. IV, chaps, i, iii-vi, xiii-xiv. 
Lindsay, History of the Reformation, Vol. II, Bk. Ill, chaps, iv-v, and Bk. VI. 
Putnam, Ruth, William the Silent. Payne, Voyages of Elizabethan Seamen 
to America, Vol. I. MoTLEY, Rise of the Dutch Republic. Gindely, History 
of the Thirty Years'' War. 

CHAPTER XXXV 

A. General Reading. Pollard, History of England, chap. v. Cheyney, 
Short History of England, chaps, xiv-xvi. Hayes, Modern Europe, Vol. I, 
chap. viii. Cross, A History of England, chaps, xxvii-xxxv. Green, Short 
History of the English People, chaps, viii-ix. Gardiner, Studetits'' History of 
England, Pts. VI-VIII. 

B. Source Material. Robinson, Readings, chap. xxx. Cheyney, Readings 
in English History, chaps, xiv-xvi. Lee, Source Book of English History, 
Pt. VI; Colby, Selections from the Sources of English History, Pt. VI, the 
Stuart Period. Gee and Hardy, Documents Illustrative of English Church 
History, pp. 508-664. 

C. Additional Reading. Cambridge Modern History, Vol. Ill, chap, xvii; 
Vol. IV, chaps, viii-xi, xv, xix; Vol. V, chaps, v, ix-xi. Morley, Oliver 
Cromwell. Macaulay, Essay on Milton. Gardiner, The First Two Stuarts 
and the Puritan Revolution. Pease, The Leveller Movement. 



CHAPTER XXXVI 

A. General Reading. Cambridge Modern History, Vol. V, chaps, i-ii, xiii- 
xiv. Hayes, Modern Europe, Vol. I, chap. vii. Wakeman, Europe from i^gS 
to 171^, chaps, ix-xi, xiv-xv. Duruy, History of France, Thirteenth Period. 
Adams, Growth of the French A'ation. 

B. Source Material. Robinson, Readings, Vol. II, chap. xxxi. Memoirs of 
the period are often obtainable in translation at reasonable prices. The greatest 
of these, those of Saint Simon, are condensed to a three-volume English edition. 

C. Additional Reading. Perkins, France under the Regency, one of several 
valuable books by this author. Taine, The Ancient Regitne, a brilliant picture 
of life in France in the eighteenth century. Lowell's Eve of the French 
Revolution is also general; it is less picturesque but gives a fairer idea of 
conditions. 

CHAPTER XXXVn 

A. General Reading. Cambridge Modem History, Vol. V, chaps, xvi, xx-xxi; 
Vol. VI, chap. XX. Hayes, Modern Europe, Vol. I, chaps, xi-xii. Henderson, 
A Short History of Germany, Vol. I, pp. 148-218. Rambaud, History of 
Russia, Vols. I-II, the best treatment of R«ssi^, Schwilj., Modem E\irope, 



Bibliography 665 

pp. 215-247, good outline. Marriott and Robertson, Evoltition of Prussia 
(excellent). Beazley, and others, History of Russia. Mavor, Economic 
History of Russia. TuTTLE, History of Prussia, 4 vols. 

B. Source Material. Robinson, Readings, Vol. II, chap, xxxii. Robinson 
and Beard, Readings in Modern European History, Vol. I, chap. iv. 

C. Additional Reading. Bright, Maria Theresa. Carlyle, Frederick the 
Great, a classic. Eversley, The Partitions of Poland. PHILLIPS, History of 
Poland, good short account in Home University Library. Hassall, European 
History, ly^y-iySg. Kluchevsky, A History of Russia, 3 vols. Schevill, 
The Making of Modem Germany. Schuyler, Peter the Great, standard English 
biography. Waliszewski, Life of Peter the Great. Lewinski-Corwin, A 
Political History of Poland. 

CHAPTER XXXVIII 

A. General Reading. Hayes, yJ/<7^^r«.£'«cr<7/«^, Vol. I, chaps, ix-x. Becker, 
The Beginnings of the American People. Van Tyne, The American Revolution. 
Cambridge Modem History, Vol. V, chap, xxii; Vol. VI, chaps, vi, xv. Cross, 
A History of England and Greater Britain, chap, xli, detailed manual. 
EgertoN, a Short History of British Colonial Policy, best treatment. 
MuiR, R., The Expansion of Europe, chaps, i-iv. Cheyney, A Short History 
of England, chap. xvii. Gibbins, History of Commerce in Europe. Lyall, The 
Rise of British Dominion in India. Pollard, Factors in Modem History, 
chap. X, a most suggestive treatment of the rise of nationalism in modern 
England. Woodward, A Short Histoty of the Expansion of the British Empire, 
best introduction. Altschul, The American Revolution in our School Text- 
books, excellent compilation illustrating the prevailing bias against Great Britain. 

B. Source Material. Robinson, Readings, Vol. II, chap, xxxiii. Robinson 
and Beard, Readings in Modern European History, Vol. I, chaps, vi-vii. 
Cheyney, Readings in English History, chaps, xiii, xvii. Muzzey, Readings 
in American History. Hart, American History told by Contemporaries, Vol. I. 

C. Additional Reading. Cu'EY'^^y, Europeait Background of American His- 
tory, an excellent survey. Edgar, The Stj-uggle for a Continent. Hunter, A 
Brief History of the Indian Peoples. Lucas, A Historical Geography of the British 
Colonies, 5 vols., the most extensive treatment. Macaulay, Essay on Clive. 
Mahan, The Influence of Sea-Poiver upon History, i66o-iy8j, a classic. MoRRIS, 
A History of Colonization, 2 vols. Parkman, A Half- Century of Conflict, 2 vols. 
Seeley, The Expansion of England, a well-known general survey. Three 
indispensable books for the teacher in furnishing a proper background for an 
interpretation of the Revolution are Alvord, The Mississippi Valley in British 
Politics ; SCHLESINGER, The Colonial Merchants and the American Revolution \ 
and Fisher, The Struggle for American Independence. Thwaites, The Colo- 
nies. Traill, Social England, Vol. V. 



INDEX 



Marked letters sound as in far, prudent, move, French boh 



Abbeys, dissolution of, in England, 

527 
Abraham, 71 

Academy, of Plato, 185; French, 591 
A chae'ans, 87 f. 
A crop'o lis, 126, 129, 144 
Act of Supremacy, 526 
Act of Uniformity, 582 
Actium (ak'shi um), 242 
Address to the German Nobility, by 

Luther, 508 f. 
Ad'ri an 6'ple, 292 
Advancement of Learning., 567 
/Egean (e je'an), peoples of the, 86 ff. 
^gean World, 79 f., 82 ff. ; geography 

of, 79 j peoples of, 80 ; and the 

Orient, 80 f. ; civilization of, 81 f. 
^gina (eji'na), 135 
i^gospotami (e gos pot'a mi), 156 
/Eneid (e ne'id), 250 
^ o'li ans, 88 
^schylus (es'ki lus), 145 f. 
Agincourt (aj'in court, Eng. pron.), 

381 
Agriculture, rise of, 10, 23 f ., 43 ; early 

Greek, 90; decline of, in Italy, 226 f. 

Agrippina (ag ri pi'na), 253 

Ah'ri man, 63 

Ahuramazda (a hb'ra maz'da), 63 

Ak'kad, 46 

Al'a ric, 292 f. 

Alba Longa (al'ba long'ga), 193 

Albertus Magnus, 424 

Al bi gen'sians, 419 

Al'che my, 473 

Al ci bi'a des, 152, 153 f. 

Al'cuin, 338 

Aleander, 510 f. 

Alemanni (al e man'I), 301 

Alexander the Great, 171 ff . ; cam- 
paigns of, 171 ff . ; international 
policy of, 175 ff. 

Alexander II, Pope, 359 

Alexander's empire, 177 ff. 



Alexandria, 178, 179, 180 f., 261 f., 

297 
Alexius, Emperor, 401,404 
Alfred the Great, 343, 357 f. 
Algebra, 30 
Al ham'bra, 329 
Alphabet, first, in Europe, 92. See 

Writing 
Alsace (al sas'), 557 
Alva, duke of, 539 

America, English supremacy in, 636 f. 
American colonies, 638 ff. 
A'mon, 176 
Am'6 rites, 46 
Amos, 71 
Andrea del Sarto (an dre'a del sar'to), 

485 

An dro ni'cus, 222, 223 

An Essay on Method, 562 

Angles in Britain, 293, 320 f. 

Anglo-Saxon, 466 f. 

Anjou (an'jo, Eng. pron.). 366, 368 

Anne, queen of England, 626 

An'shan, 64 

An tig'o nids, 178 

An tig'o nus, 177 

Antigonus II, 178 

Antioch (an'ti ok), 178, 179 

Antiochus (an ti'o kus) the Great, 218 

An to nl'nus Pl'us, 2 59 

An'to ny, 241 f. 

Aphrodite (af ro dl'te), 96, 196 

A pol'lo, 95 

A pol 16 do'rus, 162 

A qui'nas, Thomas, 424 

Arabia, 40 f. 

Arabic numerals, 478 

Ar'abs, 400 f. ; condition of, before 
Mohammed, 322 ; conquests of, 
325 f. ; civilization of, 326 f. ; in 
Spain, 328 f. ; civilization of, in 
Spain, 490 

Aragon, 490 

Ar a me'ans, 41 



11 



History of Europe 



Arbe'la, 173 

Archbishops, powers of, 416 

Archimedes (ar ki me'dez), 182 f. 

Architecture, medieval, 443 ff. 

Archon (ar'kon). 102, 112 

Ar'go Hs, 126 

Ar'gos, 83, 99 f. 

Aristarchus (ar is tar'kus), 183 

A ris ti'des, 130 f. 

Aristogiton (ar is to jT'ton), 114 

Ar is toph'a nes, 163 

Aristotle, I7i,i85f. ; medieval venera- 
tion for, 475 

Arithmetic, 30 

Aries (arlz, Eng. pron.), 341 f. 

Arma'da, 541, 552 

Art, Middle Stone Age, 6, 7 ; Baby- 
Ionian, 44 f., 49 ; Assyrian, 
54; Chaldean, 56; Cretan, 81 f . ; 
Greek, 109; Etruscan, 195; Roman, 
220 ff., 247 f., 265 ff. ; Renaissance, 
484 ff. 

Artemis'ium, 125 f. 

Aryans (ar'yanz), 62 ff. 

Asia, Western, geography of, 39 

Assembly, Greek, 89; place of, 133 

Assur (as'or), 50 f., 72 

Assurbanipal (a sor ba'ni pal), 52, 54 

Assyrian art and architecture, 51 ff. 

Assyrian civilization, 53 f. 

Assyrian state, 50 ff., 54 f. 

Assyrian war, 52 f. 

Astrology, 57, 472 

Astronomy, 57 

A the'na, 96 

Athenian Empire, rise of, 129 ff. ; in 
age of Pericles, 137 ff. ; fall of, 
iSoff. 

Athens, 100, 109; and Sparta, 129 ff. 

A'thos {or Ath'os), Mount, 121 

At'ti ca, 99, 100, 126 ff. 

At'ti la, 293 f. 

Augsburg, 387; diet at, 516 f.; con- 
fession of, 517, 518; Peace of, 517 f., 

553 f- 
Augustan Age, civilization of, 247 f. 

Augustine, 321 

Augustus. See Octavian 

Au re'li an, 279 

Au re'li us, Marcus, 272 f., 289 

Au'rung zeb', 635 

Austria, origin of, 489. See Hapsburgs 

Austrian Succession, War of the, 

609 f. 
A ves'ta, 64 



Avignon (av en yon'), 455 ; residence 
of popes at, 427 

Ba'ber, 634 

Babylon, 42, 46 f., .56, 65, 173, 174 

Babylonian art and architecture, 44 f., 

49 

Babylonian captivity, 427 

Babylonian commerce, 48 f. 

Babylonian law, 48 f. 

Babylonian religion, 44 

Babylonian society, 49 

Babylonian state, 45 

Babylonian writing, 43 f., 48 f. 

Babylonians, earliest. See Sumerians 

Bacon, Francis, 562, 567 

Bacon, Roger, 477 f. 

Baeda. See Venerable Bede 

Bagdad', 328 

Balance of power, 523 f., 627 

Baldwin, king of Jerusalem, 403 ff. 

Bal'i ol, John, 374 

Bannockburn, 376 

Baptists, 582 

"Barbarians" (in Greece), 104. See 
Germans 

" Barbarians, Laws of the," 304 

Barbarossa. See Frederick I 

Barebone's Parliament, 579 

Barter replaced by money, 348 f. 

Bavaria, 498 

Becket, Thomas, 363 ff. 

Bel i sa'ri us, 299 

Belshazzar, 65 

Benedictine order, 317 

" Benevolent despots," 619 ff. 

Bengal, 636 

Bible, Persian, 64 {see Avesta) ; origin 
of name, 93 ; Mohammedan, 323 {see 
Koran) ; translated by Wycliffe, 
429; Luther's translation of, 513; 
English translation of, 526 ; French 
translation of, 543 ; King James 
version of, 567 

Bill of Rights, 584 

Bishop of Rome, leading position of, 
312 f. See Popes 

Bishops, powers and duties of, 416 

" Black Death," 379 

Boeotia (be 6'shi a), 100 

Bohemia, 554 

Bohemians, conquered by Charle- 
magne, 334 

Bo'he mond, 403 

Boleyn (boorin), Anne, 525 



Index 



111 



Bologna (bo lon'ya), University of, 

474 

Bombay, 636 

Boniface VIII, Pope, 426 f. 

" Book of the Dead," 36 

Books, in Middle Ages, 297, 480 ff. ; 
earliest printed, 483 

Boston Tea Party, 642 

Braddock, 636 

Brandenburg, electorate of, 604 ; be- 
comes Kingdom of Prussia, 608 

Bremen (bra'men), 333 

Breslau (bres'lou), 609 

Britain, conquered by Angles and 
Saxons, 320 f . ; conversion of, 321 

Bruce, Robert, 375 f. 

Brutus, 240 

Bubonic plague, 379 

Burgundians, 295 

Burgundy, 385, 497 ; duke of, 382 

Burke, 642 

Business, in later Middle Ages, 436 ff. 

Byb'los, 93 

Byzantium (bi zan'shium), 283 

Cabinet, development of, in England, 

630 
Caesar, Julius, 235 ff. 
Calais (kal'is, Eng. pron.), 383 
Calcutta, 636, 637 ; " black hole " of, 

637 

Calendar, 18 f. ; in Rome, 240 

Ca lig'u la, 251 f. 

Caliph (ka'lif), 325 f. 

Calvin, 522 f. 

Cambridge, University of, 474 

Cambyses (kam bi'sez), 65 

Canaanites, 41 

Cannae (kan'e), 213 f. 

Canon law, 414 (note) 

Canossa, 394 f. 

Canterbury, religious capital of Eng- 
land, 321 

Cardinals, origin of, 392 

Carolingian line, 330 

Carthage, 128, 207 f., 216, 297; rela- 
tions of, with Rome, 208 

Carthaginian commerce, 207 f. 

Carthaginian state, 208 

Carthaginians, 192 

Cas si 6 do'rus, his manuals on liberal 
arts and sciences, 295 ff. 

Cassius (kash'ius), 240 

Castile, 490 

Castles, medieval, 343 f. 



Catherine of Aragon, 524 f. 

Catherine of Medici (med'e che), 543 

Catherine II of Russia, 604, 620 f. 

Catholic Church, early conception of, 
307. See Church, Clergy 

Catholic League, 555 

Catiline (kat'ilin), 235 

Cavaliers, 574 

Censors, 198 

Ceres (se'rez), 196, 197 

Chaeronea (ker 6 ne'a), 170 

Chaldea (kal de'a), 56 

Chaldean artaji^^-arefiitecture, 56 f. 

Chaldean civiTization, 57 

Chaldean Empire, 56 ff. 

Chaldean science, 57 

Chaldeans, 63 

Chalons (sha lori'), 294 

Champollion (sham pol'i oh), 37 

Charlemagne (shar'le man), 331 ff.; 
disruption of Empire of, 339 ff. ; 
hero of medieval poetry, 468 

Charles I, 567 ff. ; execution of, 575 

Charles II of England, 581 f. 

Charles V, Emperor, 488 ff., 497, 
5'off. 

Charles V of France, 379 

Charles VII of France, 381 

Charles VIII of France, Italian inva- 
sion of, 493 f. 

Charles IX of France, 543 

Charles XII of Sweden, 604 

Charles the Hammer, 328, 330 

Charter, Great, 369 ff. 

Charters, town, 434 

Chaucer, 467 

Chivalry, 469 ff. 

Christ. See Jesus 

Christianity, superiority of, 272 ; 
placed on legal basis, 285 ; con- 
trast between ideas of, and those 
of pagans, 307 f . 

Christians, persecution of early, 272 

Chronicles of Lorsch, 335 

Chrysoloras (kris 5 l5'ras), 476 

Church, organization of, 285 ; great- 
ness of, 307 ; sources of strength 
of, 307 f. ; architecture of, 309 f. ; 
begins to perform functions of gov- 
ernment, 310 f. ; relation of, to civil 
government, 310; property of, 389; 
character and organization of, 
413 ff. ; relation of, to State, 425 ff. 
See Clergy, Popes 

Church of England, 547 f. 



IV 



History of Europe 



Cicero (sis'e ro), 236, 249 

Cimon (si'mon), 132 f. 

City-states, 45, 90 f., 99 f., 449 

Civil war in England, 574 

Claudius, 252 f. 

Clement VII, Pope, 525 

€le'on, the tanner, 153 

Cle 6 pa'tra, 239, 241 f. 

Clergy, position of, in Middle Ages, 

390. 417 f- 
Clermont, Council of, 401, 402 
Clis'the nes, 114 
Cli'tus, 176 
Clive, Robert, 637 f. 
Clovis, 300; conversion of, 301 f. ; 

conquests of, 302 
Cnossus (nos'us), 81 f., 82; captured 

by Dorians, 88 
Cnut (knot), 358 
Codes of law, earliest written, 48, 1 12, 

259. 297' 303 

Coinage, in Medo-Persian Empire, 
67; in Greece, iiof. ; in Rome, 
196, 207 ; in Middle Ages, 438 f. 

Colbert (kol bar'), 591 f. 

Coligny (ko len'ye), 543 f. 

Cologne (ko Ion'), 498 

Coloni, 2yi,t. 

Colonial expansion. See Imperialism 

Col OS se'um, 265 f. 

Columbus, 462 

Commerce in Middle Ages, 436 ff., 

457 

Commercial cities of Middle Ages, 438 

Com'mo dus, 278 

Common law, 363 

Commons, House of, 373, 631 

Commonwealth of England, 576 f. 

Compurgation, trial by, 304 

Condottieri (kon dot tya're), 454 

Constantine the Great, 283 

Constantinople, 283, 294, 410 

Consuls, 198 

Continental congresses, 642 

Conventicle Act, 582 f. 

Conversion, of Britain, 321 : of Ger- 
mans, 322 ; of Saxons, 333 

Co per'ni cus 269, 559 f. 

Copper, 19, 24 f. 

Cor'do va, 328, 490 

Cor'inth, 108, 109, 135, 219 

Corneille (kor na'y'), 591 

Corsica, 211 

Cor'tes, 462 

Council, Greek, 89, 91 



Covenant, National, 572 

Crassus, 236 

Crecy (kres'sy, Eng. pron.), 377 

Cretan art and architecture, 81 f. 

Cretan civilization, 81 ff. 

Crete, controlled by Egypt, 31 

Cromwell, Ohver, 574 f., 576 ff. 

Crusades, 400 ff. ; results of, 410 ff. 

Cul lod'en Moor, 628 

Cuneiform. See Wedge writing 

Curia, papal, 415 

Cyclops, 91 

Cynoscephalae (sin os sef'a le), 218 

Cy re'ne, 102 

Cy'rus, 64 f., 121 

Dacia (da'shi a), 256 f. 

Danegeld, 358 

Danes, 343 ; invasion of England by, 

357 f- 
Da ri'us the Great, 66 f., 121 ff. 
Darius III, 172 f. 
David, 69 

Decelea (desele'a), 155 
Declaration of Independence, 642 f. 
Degrees, university, explained, 474 

and note 
Delian League, 131 f. 
De'los, 104, 108, 135 
Del'phT, 95, 104, 1 19 
Delta, the, 14, 15 
De me'ter, 96, 117, 196 
De mos'the nes, 170 
Descartes (da kart'), 560 f. 
Diaz (de'as), 460 
Dictator (in Rome), 198, 213 
Diet of Germany, 499 ; at Worms, 

499, 510 ff. 
Diocletian (di 6 kle'shian), 279, 280 f., 

289 
Di 6 ny'sus. 96, 117 
Dip'y Ion Gate, 139 
Discoveries, geographical, 457 ff. ; of 

the Portuguese, 458 ff. . 
Disorder, age of, 339 ff. 
Dispensations, 415 
Dissenters, 582 
Divine right of kings, 176, 566; in 

France, 587 
Domestication of animals, 10, 24, 43, 60 
Dominicans, 423 f. 
Domitian (do mish'ian), 256 
Don'jon, 346 
Do'ri ans, 87 f. 
Draco (dra'kS), 112 



Index 



Drake, Sir Francis, 550 
Drusus (drti'sus), 233 
Dupleix (dupleks'), 637 
Dii'rer, Albrecht, 486 

Early Stone Age. See Stone Age 

East l-'rankish kingdom, 339 ff. 

East Goths, 294 f., 299, 600 

East India Company, English, 635 f. 

Eck, John, 509 

E des'sa, 404 ; fall of, 408 

Edict of Nantes (nants, Eng. pron.), 
546 ; revocation of, 594 f . 

Edict of Restitution, 554 f., 558 

Edict of Worms, 512 

Education, 337, 338 

Edward the Confessor, 359 

Edward I, 372, 426 

Edward II, 372, 376 

Edward III, 372 f., 376 ff., 379 

Edward VI, 528 f. 

Egbert, 357 

Egypt, 14, 219; rise of civilization 
in, I if.; Prehistoric and Historic 
Periods, 12, 18 ; geography of, i4ff. ; 
earliest inhabitants of, 16; earliest 
known writing in, 16 ff.; Pyramid 
Age of, 20 ff. ; Feudal Age of, 29 ff. ; 
the Empire, 31 ff.; conquered by 
Alexander the Great, 173 

Egyptian art and architecture, 23 ff., 

27. 31.33 f- 

Egyptian commerce, 26 f., 30 f. 

Egyptian Empire, 31 ff.; extent of, 
32 ; length of, 32 ; higher life of,. 
33 ff. ; temples of, 34 f. 

Egyptian industries, 24 ff. 

Egyptian painting, 34 

Egyptian religion, 20 f., 35 f. 

Egyptian science, 30 

Egyptian ships, 23, 33 

Egyptian society, 28 f. 

Egyptian state, 22 f., 29 f. 

Egyptian writing, i6ff. ; decipher- 
ment of, 37 f. 

Electors in the Empire, 498 

Eleusis (e lii'sis), 117 

Elizabeth, Queen, 525, 547 ff. ; ex- 
communicated by Pope, 550 

Elysian Fields, 97 

Embalmment, 20 

Empire, the, in Egypt. See Egyptian 
Empire 

Empire, Holy Roman, 335, 387, 489, 
558 



England, in Middle Ages, 357 ff.; 
condition of labor in, 379 ff. ; Protes- 
tant revolt in, 522 ff. ; under Eliza- 
beth, 547 ff. ; relations of, with 
Ireland, 550 f. ; becomes a Com- 
monwealth, 576 f. ; after the Revo- 
lution of 1688, 625; union of, with 
Scotland, 626 ; limited monarchy 
of, 629 ff. 

English language, 466 f. 

En'lil, 44 

E pam i non'das, 161 

Ep i cu re'ans, 186 

Ep i cu'rus, 186 

E pi'rus, 203 

Erasmus, 50 1 , 502, 507 ; in England, 523 

Er a tos'the nes, 183 f. 

Erechtheum (e rek the'um), 1 50 

E sar had'don, 52 

Estates General, 378, 588 ; contrasted 
with English Parliament, 378 f. 

Es tho'ni a, 604 

E trus'can bronzes, 195 

Etruscan kings of Rome, 194, 195 f. 

Etruscans, 192 ff., 201 

Eubcea (u be'a), 126 

Euclid (u'klid), 183 

Eu pat'rids, loi 

Euphrates (u fra'tez), 42, 43 

Eu rip'i des, 146 f., 163 

Excommunication, 418 

Fa'bi us, 213 

Ferdinand of Aragon, 490 

Ferdinand I, Emperor, 617 

Fertile Crescent, 39 

Feudal Age of Egypt, 29 ff. ; tombs 

of, 29 f. ; length of, 30 
Feudalism, 350 ff.; warfare, 353 f.; 

introduction of, into England, 361 ; 

introduction of, into France, 385 
Feudal system. See Feudalism 
Fiefs, medieval, 351 ; various kinds 

of, 352. See Feudalism 
First Cataract of the Nile, 14 
Flag of Great Britain, 626 (note) 
Fla min'i us, 213 
Flavian emperors, 256 
Florence, 454 f. 
Forum, Roman, 193, 247 
France, 384 ff. ; under Louis XIV, 

586 ff. ; natural boundaries of, 592 ; 

aids United States, 643 
Franche-Comte (frohsh koh ta'), 593, 

594 



VI 



History of Europe 



Francis I of France, 495 ff., 542 

Franciscans, 422 f. 

Frankfort, 498 

Franks, 295 ; kingdom of, 299 ff. ; 

conquest of, 300 f. 
Frederick I (Barbarossa), Emperor, 

395 ff., 409 
Frederick II, Emperor, 397 f. 
Frederick III, Emperor, 498 
Frederick III of Brandenburg, 608 
Frederick the Great, 609 ff., 619 f. 
Frederick William, the Great Elector 

of Brandenburg, 606 ff. 
Frederick William I, 608 
Frederick the "winter king," 554 
French language, 467 ff. 
Fritzlar, sacred oak of Odin at, 322 
Furniture, earliest wooden, 8, 26, 35 

Gaelic (ga'lik), 374 

Gaius Gracchus (ga'yus grak'us), 231 

Gal i le'6, 560 

Gaul, 236, 293 

Gauls, 201 

Geneva, reformation at, 522 

Genghis Khan (jen'giz kan'), 601 

Geographical discoveries, 457 ff. 

Geometry, 30 

George I, 627 

George II, 629 

George III, 630 

Germanic languages, origin of, 465 

Germans, invasions of, menace Europe, 

289 ff. ; home life of early, 290 ; 

migrations of, 290; wars of, 290; 

settle in Empire, 290 f. ; civilization 

of, 291 ; fusion of, with Romans, 

302 f. 
Germany, in the sixteenth century, 

498 f. ; religious division of, 515 f. 
Ghiberti (ge ber'te), 484 
Gibraltar, 597 

Gizeh (ge'ze). Great Pyramid of, 21 f. 
Glass, earliest, 25 

Godfrey of Bouillon (bo yon'), 403, 405 
Gothic architecture, 445 ff. 
Gothic sculpture, 448 
Goths, 292 

Gracchi (grak'I), 230 f. 
Gra na'da, fall of, 490 
Grand Alliance, 596 
Grand Remonstrance, 573 f. 
Gra ni'cus, 172 
" Great Greece," 103 
Great Khan, 601 



Great King, 172 

" Great schism," 455 f. 

Greek architecture, 105, ii6f., 137 f., 

143, 144 f., 179 f. 
Greek art, 109 
Greek civilization, 90 ff. ; in Age of 

Nobles, 103 f. 
Greek colonization, 102 f., 192 f. 
Greek commerce, 102, 108 f., 133 
Greek drama, 115 f., 145 ff. 
Greek education, 138 ff., 185 f. 
Greek history-writing, 142, 165 
Greek industries, 108 f., 158 f. 
Greek literature, 105 f., 115 f., 148, 

165 f., 184 f. 
Greek music, 115 f. 

Greek painting, 117, 144, 162, 182 
Greek religion, 95 ff., 117, 162 f., 186, 

187 
Greek science, 118, 140 f., 182 ff. 
Greek sculpture, 105, 117, 145, 161, 

181 
Greek ships, 109 f., 134 
y Greek society, 89 f., 99, 108, 1 1 1, 115, 

142 
Greek state, 89 ff., 99, 100 f., 113, 

166 f. 

Greek theater, 116 

Greek war, 94, 121 ff., 135 f., 150 ff., 
159 ff., 170 f. 

Greeks, the, 78 ff. ; prehistoric, 86 f. 

Gregory VII, 312, 592 f. 

Gregory the Great, 313 f., 321 ; mis- 
sionary work of, 314; writings of, 

314 
Grotius (gro'shi us), 597 
Guienne (ge en'), 368, 376 
Guilds, in the Middle Ages, 434 f. 
Gunpowder, 478 f. 
Gustavus Adolphus, 555 ff. 

Ha'des, 97 

Ha'dri an, 257 f., 272 

Ha mil'car Bar'ca, 210 

Ham mu ra'pi, 46 ff. 

Hampden, John, 570 

" Hanging Gardens " of Babylon, 56 

Hannibal, 21 1 ff. 

Hanseatic League, 441 f. 

Hapsburg, House of, 488 ff. 

Hapsburgs, in Austria, 616 ff. ; hetero- 
geneous population under the, 
618 f. 

Har mo'di us, 114 

Harold of Wessex, 359 f. 



Index 



Vll 



Harvey, William, 567 

Hasdrubal (has'dro bal), 215 

Hastings, 359 f. 

Hatchets, early stone, 3 

Hebrew kingdoms, C9 f., 72 

Hebrew literature, 70 f. 

Hebrew oratory, 71 

Hebrew religion, 73 f. 

Hebrew war, 72 

Hebrew writing, 7 1 

Hebrews, 69 ff. 

He ji'r^ the, 323 

Hellas, 104 

Hellenes (hel'enz), 104 

Hellenistic Age, 179 ff. ; civilization 

of, 179 ff. 
Hel'lespont, 121, 128 
Henry II of England, 362 f. 
Henry III of England, 371 
Henry V of England, 381 
Henry VII of England, 384 
Henry VIII of England, 523 ff. ; 

divorce case of, 524 f. ; revolt of, 

against papacy, 525 f. 
Henry II of France, 542 
Henry IV of Germany, 393 ; conflict 

with Gregory VII, 394 f. 
Henry IV of Navarre, 545 f. 
He'ra, 96 
Heresy, 418 ff. 
Her'mes, 96, 196 
Hero songs of Greece, 94 
He rod'o tus, 142 
He'si od, 106, 113 
High Church party, 570 f. 
Highlands of Scotland, 374 
Hin du Stan', Mongolian emperors of, 

634 f. 
Hip par'chus, 113 f. 
Hip'pi as, 113 f. 

Hippocrates (hi pok'ra tez), 142 
Hittites (hit'Its), 84 ff. 
Hohenstaufens (h5'enshtou'fenz). See 

Frederick I, Frederick II 
Hohenzollern (ho'en tsol'ern). House 

of, 605 
Holbein (holTjin), Hans, the Younger, 

486 
Holland, English war with, 583 ; inva- 
sion of, by Louis XIV, 593 f. 
Holy Land, 400 ff. 
Holy Roman Empire, 335, 387, 489, 

558 
Homage, 351 
Homer, 95 



Homeric songs, 95 

Hor'ace, 250 

Horse, first appearance of the, 31 f., 

60 
Hospitalers, 406 f. 
Hrolf, 359 

Huguenot wars, 542 ff. 
Huguenots, 594 f. 
Humanists, 476 f. 
Hundred Years' War, 376 ff.; renewal 

of, 381 
Hungarians, invasions of, 342, 387, 

403 
Huns, 292 f. 

Ice Age, the, 3 f. ; last retreat of ice, 

6f. 
Ic ti'nus, 145 
Ikh na'ton, 36 
Il'i ad, 95 
Il'i um. See Troy 
/mperator, 245 
Imperialism, policy of Portugal, 

Spain, and Holland, 633 ; in 

England, 633 f. 
Independents, 572 
Index of prohibited books, 533 
India, 634 ff. ; English and French 

settlements in, 635 f. 
Indo-Europeans, 59 ff., 86 f. ; disper- 
sion of, 60 ff. 
Indulgences, 505 
Ink, earliest use of, 18 
Innocent III, 369, 420 
Inquisition, in Spain, 420 f., 491 
Institute, French, 563 
Instiiuie of Christianity, Calvin's, 522 
Interdict, 418 
Interest, attitude toward, in Middle 

Ages, 439 
International law, 597 
Inventions, modern, 477 ff. 
Investiture, 389 f. 
I 6'ni ans, 88 ; revolt of, against 

Persians, 121 
Iran (e ran'), 62 f. 
Iranian (I ra'ni an) religion, 63 f . 
Iranians, 62 ff. 
Ireland, 550 f.; subdued by Cromwell, 

576 
Irene, Empress, 335 
Iron, incoming of, 52 
Irrigation, earliest known, 14, 43 
Isaac, 71 
Isabella, queen of Castile, 490 f. 



Vlll 



History of Europe 



Isaiah (i za'ya), 72 

Ish'tar, 57, 96 

T'sis, 270 

Is'lam, 40, 323 f. 

Islands of the Blest, 97 

I soc'ra tes, 165 f., 170 

Israel, 70, 72 

Is'sus, 172 

Italian cities, trade of, with Orient, 

436 f. ; of the Renaissance, 448 ff. 
Italian despots, 453 f. 
I tal'i ca, 233 
Italy, geography and climate of, 19c ; 

part of Charlemagne's empire, 

339 f. ; becomes the battleground 

of Europe, 493 f. 
Ivan (e van') the Terrible, 601 

Jacob, 71 

James I, 554, 565 f. 

James II, 565, 583 

James VI of Scotland (I of England), 

375. 549 
Je ho'vah, 70 

Jerusalem, 56, 69, 401, 404 f., 409; 

loss of, 410 
Jesuits, 533 ff. 
Jesus, 271 

Jews, economic importance of, 440 
Joan of Arc, 381 f. 
John of England, 368 f. 
John II of France, 377 
John Frederick of Saxony, 518 
Joseph, 71 

Joseph II of Austria, 622 f. 
Joji7-nal des Sa7'ants (joor nal' da 

sav oh'), 591 
Jubilee of 1300, 426 f. 
Judah, 70, 72 
Julius II, Pope, 485 
Juno, 196 f. 
Jupiter, 57, 196 
Jury, trial by, 363 
Jus tin'i an Code, 297, 307 
Justs and tourneys in the Middle 

Ages, 354 

Kaaba (ka'ba), 322, 324 

Kap'pel, 522 

Kar'nak, temple of, 31 ff. 

Khafre (kaf'ray), 29 

King " by the grace of God," 331 

" King's Friends," 630 

King's Peace, 160 

Kingship, origin of, 89 f. 



Knighthood, 469 ff. 

Knights of the Round Table, 468 

Knox, John, 549 

Ko ran', 323 f. 

Kosciusko (kos'i us'ko), 616 

La co'ni a, 99 , 

Lafayette, 643 

Lake-dwellers, 8 ff. 

Lancaster, House of, 383 

Land, ownership of, 28, 30, 45, 90, 

112, 225 f., 275 f., 28if., 34ij,343 
Langton, Stephen, 369 
Late Stone Age. See Stone Age 
Lateran, palace of the, 456 
Latin kingdoms in Syria, 405 f. 
Latin language, 303, 464 f. 
Latin literature, 224 
Latins, 193 

Latium (la'shi um), tribes of, 193 
Laud, William, 570 f., 573 
Law, earliest written codes of, 48, 

112, 259, 297, 303 
Learning, preserved by the Church, 

337 f- 

Legates, papal, 415 

Leo X, 485, 496 

Leo the Great, 294, 312 f. 

Le o nar'do da Vinci (vin'che), 485 

Le on'i das, 125 f. 

Leuctra (liik'tra), 160 

Leuthen (loi'ten), 611 

Libraries, earliest, of Feudal Age of 
Egypt, 30 f. ; in Rome, 267 ; de- 
stroyed in Middle Ages, 297 

Library, of Assurbanipal, 54; at Alex- 
andria, 184 • * 

Li vo'ni a, 604 

Llewellyn (loo el'in), 373 

Lombard League, 397 

Lombard towns, 396 f. 

Lombards, 299, 600 ; as bankers, 440 

Lombardy conquered by Charlt 
magne, 333 

Lord, medieval, 350 

Lords, House of, 373, 631 

Lorenzo the Magnificent, 454 

Louis XI of France, 385 

Louis XIV of France, 586 ff. 

Louis the Pious, 339 

Low Church party, 571 

Lowlands of Scotland, 374 

L6 yo'la, Ignatius, 533 

Luther, Martin, 499, 504 ff. 

Lutheran revolt, 504 ff. 



Index 



IX 



l,iit'zen, 556 

Ly ce'um, 185, 186 

Ly san'der, 1 56 

Macedonia, rise of, i69ff. ; conquered 

by Rome, 218 f. 
Mel dras', 636 

Mag'de burg, destruction of, 556 
\' gellan (majel'an), 462 

ilta, 407 
At. in, earliest, i ff. ; condition of, 2f. ; 

stone tools of, 3, 5 
Manor, medieval, 346 ff.; break-up of 

■.he, in England, 380 
M.ir'athon, 122; battle of, 123 
Marches, 337 
Marco Polo, 458 
Mar do'ni us, 128 
Marduk (mar'dok), 56 
Margraves, 337 
Maria Theresa, 609 f . 
Marignano (ma ren ya'no), 496 
Ma'ri us, 232, 234 
Mars, 57, 196 

Marseilles (mar salz', Eng. pron.), 103 
Marston Moor, 575 
Mary of Burgundy, 489 
Mary of England, 524 f., 529 ff. 
Mary Queen of Scots, 549 f., 551 
Massilia (ma sil'e a) (Marseilles), 103 
Max i mil'i an, 488, 489 * 

Mayflower, 572 
Mayor of the Palace, 330 
Mazarin (ma za rah'), 586 
Maz'da, 63 

Mecca (mek'a), 322 ff. 
Medes (medz), 63 f. 
Medici (med'e che), 454 
Medicine, 30 
Medina (ma de'na), 323 
Mediterranean World, failure of 

Roman government in, 227 f. ; 

in Roman Empire, 246 
Medo-Persian Empire, 59 ff. 
Melanchthon (me langk'thon), 517 
Memphis, 23 
Mendicant orders, 421 ff. 
Menes (me'nez), 22 
Mer'cu ry, 57, 196, 197 
Mer o vin'gi an line, 301, 330 
Mer'sen, Treaty of, 339 f. 
Metal, discovery of, 19; age of, 19; 

in Europe, 79 
Metz, 559 
Michael Angelo (mi'kel an'je 16), 4S5 



Middle Ages, meaning of term, 
291 f. ; character of, 305 ; text- 
books in, 337 

Middle Stone Age. See Stone Age 

Mil'an, 297 

MI le'tus, 1 18 

Mil tl'a des, 122, 132 

Minnesingers, 470 f. 

Miracles, frequency of, in Middle 
Ages, 308 

Mith'ras, 63, 270 

Moat, 346 

Model Parliament, 372 

Modern languages, origin of, 464 ff. 

Mogul emperors, 634 f. 

Mo ham'med, 332 ff. 

Mohammedan conquests, 341 f. 

Mohammedanism, 322 ff. 

Mohammedans expelled from Spain, 

334 
Monasteries, arrangement of, 318 ff. ; 

dissolution of English, 527 
Monasticism, attraction of, for many 

classes, 316 
Money, lack of, in Middle Ages 341 

replaces barter, 348 f. 
Mongols. See Tartars 
Monks, 308, 316 if . ; missionary activ- 
ities of, 320 ff. 
Mon'te Cassino (kasse'no), founding 

of, 317 
Moors, 328 f. ; driven from Spain, 490 
More, Sir Thomas, 523, 526 
Moscow, princes of, 601 
Moses. 69 
Moslems, 323 ; rise of oriental empire 

of, 325 f. 
Miin'ster, 558 
Muslims. See Moslems 
Mycense (mi se'ne), 83, 87 
Mysteries of Eleusis, 117 

Nahum, 55 

Nantes (nants), Edict of, 546 
Naples, kingdom of, 493 
Napoleon of Egypt. ^V^Thutmose III 
Na ram'-Sin, 47 
Nase'by, 575 
National Covenant, 572 
Navarre (na var'), 490 
Navigation Act, 577 
Navigation laws, English, 639 f. 
Nebuchadnezzar, 56, 63 
Neighborhood war in the Middle 
Ages, 499 



History of Europe 



Ne mau'sus, 264 

Nero, 253 f. 

Netherlands, 5 59 ; revolt of the, 537 ff. ; 

Louis XIV's invasion of the, 593 
New Atlantis, 562 f. 
New Testament, 311 f. 
New York, 583 
Niagara, 637 
Nicasa (nl se'a), 401, 403 
Nicholas II, Pope, 391 f. 
Nicias (nish'i as), 153, 154 
Nic 6 me'di a, 281 
Nile, 14 ff. 
Nimes (nem), 264 
Nineveh (nin'e ve), 52 f., 55 
Nobility, origin of titles of, 336 f. 
Nobles, Age of the, in Greece, 99 ff . ; 

expansion in, 102 f. 
Norman Conquest of England, 357 ff. ; 

results of, 361 f. 
Normandy, 358 f., 377 
North America, English and French 

in, 633 f. 
Northmen, 342 f. 
Nu'rem berg, 498 

Oc ta'vi an, 240 ff. 

O do a'cer, 294 

Od'ys sey, 95 

Old Testament, 71, 74 

Olympic games, 103 f. 

O lym'pus, 95 

Oracles, 117 

Orange, William of, 583 f., 593 

Ordeal, trial by, 304 f. 

Orient, Stone Age Europe and, 12, 
78 f. ; history of, 14 ff. ; summary 
of achievements of, 74 f. ; lack of 
freedom in, 75 f . ; influence on 
.(Egean world, 91 f. ; European re- 
lations with, 411, 436 ff. 

Orleans, Maid of, 382 

O si'ris, 20, 35 f. 

Os'na briick, 558 

Ostracism, 114 

Otto the Great of Germany, 387 f. 

Ottoman Turks, 617 

Oxford, University of, 474 

Palatinate, Rhenish, 595 
Palatine, 193 
Palestine, 88, 106 
Pantheon, 266 

Papacy, rise of the, 307 ff. ; origin of, 
311 f. See Pope 



Papal states, 449 

Paper and paper-making, 18, 26; in- 
troduced into Western Europe, 
482 f. 

Pa py'rus, 18, 26, 30 

Parchment, 482 

Paris, University of, 474 

Parliament, English, 371 f.; Model 
372 ; contrasted with Estates Gen- 
eral, 378 f. ; struggle of, with the 
Stuarts, 565 ; Long, 572 ff. 

Par me'ni o, 173 

Par'the non, 144 f. 

Par'thi ans, 273 

Patricians, 197 f. 

Paul of Tarsus, 271 f. 

Pau sa'ni as, 128 

Pavia (pa ve'a), 524 

Peasants, in Greece, loi ; revolt of, 
in England, 380 ; revolt of, in Ger- 
many, 514 

Peasants' Revolt, 380 

Pel 6 pon ne'si an Wars, 1 36, 1 5 1 , 1 53 f . 

Peloponnesus, 100, 151 

Pens, earliest use of, 18 

Per'ga mum, 182 

Per'i cles, 133 ff., 144, 151 f. 

Per i pa tet'ic School of Aristotle, 18' 

Persecution in England, 551 

Persia, rise of New, 279 

Persian civilization, 66 

Persian commerce, 67 

Persian Empire, 66 ff. 

Persian invasions of Europe, 121 ff. 

Persian religion, 63 f. 

Persian wars, 65 

Persian writing, 66 

Persians, 63 ff. 

Peter, St., regarded as first bishop of 
Rome, 31 1 f. 

Peter the Great, 602 ff. ; reforms of, 
603 

Peter the Hermit, 402 f. 

Petition of Right, 568 

Petrarch, 476 

Phalerum (fa le'rum), 126 

Pharaoh (fa'ro), 23, 31 

Phar sa'lus, 239 

Phid'i as, 145 

Philip Augustus of France, 366 ff., 
409 f. 

Philip the Fair, 374, 426 

Philip of Hesse, 518 

Philip of Macedon, 169 ff. 

Philip II of Spain, 530, 536 f. 



Index 



XI 



Philip V of Spain, 596 f. 

Phil ip'pi, 241 

Fh Hippies, 170 

Philistines (fi lis'tinz), 88 

Philosophy, schools of, at Athens, 
closed, 298 

Phoenicia (fe nish'a), conquered by 
Alexander the Great, 173 

Phoenicians, 41, 91 f. 

Pile villages. See Lake-dwellers 

Pilgrim Fathers, 572 

Pin'dar, 171 

Pippin the Short, 330 

Pirae'us, 130, 135 

Pirates in Middle Ages, 441 

Pi sis'tra tus, 113 

Pitt, the elder, 636 

Pitt, the younger, 631 

Plantagenets (plan taj'e netz), 365 ff. 

Plassey (plas'e), 637 

Pla tas'a, 122, 128 f. 

Pla'to, 164 

Plato's ideal state, 166 

Plebs, 198 

Pliny, 268 

Plutarch's Lives, 267 f. 

Pnyx (niks), 133, 134 

Poland, 612 ff. 

Pompeii (pom pa'ye), 260 f. 

Pompey (pom'pi), 234 ff. 

Pon'tus, 102 

Pope, origin of title of, 312 ; position 
of, 415 ff . 

Popes, 307 ; origin of " temporal " 
power of, 311 ; election of, 391 f . ; 
claims of, 392 f. 

Portcullis, 346 

Portuguese discoveries, 458 ff. 

Poseidon (po si'don), 96 

Postal systems, earliest, 68 

Potter's wheel, earliest, 25 

Pottery, earliest, 8, 25; Cretan, 81 

Praetor (pre'tor), 198 

Pragmatic sanction, 609 

Praise of Folly, by Erasmus, 502^ 

I'rax it'e les, 161 

Prayer Book, English, 529, 547 

Presbyterian Church, 522 f. ; estab- 
lished in Scotland, 549 

Presbyterians in England, 582 

! 'ride's Purge, 575 

Priest, duties of, 416 f. 

I'rime minister, first, in England, 630 

Prince of Wales, 374 

Princeps, 245 



Printing, invention of, 479 f., 483 

Protestant, origin of term, 516 

Protestant revolt, in Germany, 500 ff. ; 
in Switzerland, 520 ff. ; in England, 
522 ff. 

Protestantism, beginnings of, in 
France, 543 

Proven9al (pr5 von sal'), 467 f. 

Prussia, origin of kingdom of, 604 ff. ; 
acquired by elector of Branden- 
burg, 605 f. 

Ptolemies (td'e miz), 177 f. 

Ptolemy (astronomer), 268 f. 

Punic wars, 210 ff. 

Puritans, 571, 572 (note) 

Pyramid Age, the, 20 ff. ; government 
in, 22 f. ; length of, 22, 29; tombs 
and depiction of Egyptian life in, 
23 f. ; classes of society in, 28 ; life 
and art in, 28 f. 

Pyramids, 19 ff.; as royal tombs, 20 

Pyrrhus (pir'us), 203 

Py thag'o ras, 1 1 8 

Quaestors (kwes'torz), 198 
Quakers, 582 
Quebec, 637 

Racine (ra sen'), 591 

Ram'ses II, 36 

Raphael, 485 

Ra ven'na, 294 f. 

Raymond, Count, 403, 404 

Re (ray), 20 

Redress of grievances, 372 

Reform, spirit of, 564 

Rembrandt, 486 

Renaissance (re na sons'), cities of 

the, 448 ff. ; art of, 484 ff. 
Restoration in England, 581 ff. 
Revolution of 1688, 583 f. 
Rheims (remz), 381, 3S2 ; cathedral 

of, 448 
Rhodes, island of, 407 
Richard I, the Lion-Hearted, 366 f., 

409 
Richelieu (re she lyu'), 546 f., 557 f. 
Rising in the north of England, 550 
Rollo, 359 
Roman army, 209 f. 
Roman art and architecture, 220 ff., 

247 f., 265 ff. 
Roman Church, the mother church, 

312 
Roman civilization, 264 f. 



Xll 



History of Europe 



Roman colonization, 201 

Roman commerce, 196, 207, 261 

Roman education, 222 f. 

Roman Empire, internal decline of, 

27 5 ff . ; division of, 283 ff. ; " fall " of, 

in the West, 294 ; continuity of, 335 f . 
Roman law, 199, 259 
Roman literature, 224, 249 flf., 267 f. 
Roman provinces, 262 ; organization 

of, 246 
Roman religion, 196 f., 270 f. 
Roman Republic, overthrow of, 234 ff. 
Roman ships, 210 f., 261 f. 
y Roman society, 205 f., 220 ff., 224 f., 

259, 262, 269, 276 
Roman state, 197 ff., 219 ff., 227 f., 

231 ff., 239, 244 f., 258, 259 
Roman war,,2ci ff., 210 ff., 232 f., 235, 

236 ff., 241, 256 f., 273 
Romance languages, 465 
Romances in Middle Ages, 468 f. 
Romanesque architecture, 444 f. 
Rome, earliest, 193 f. ; captured by 

Gauls, 201 ; in time of Hadrian, 

265 ff. ; captured by Alaric, 292 ; 

center of learning, 297 ; city of, in 

Middle Ages, 455 f. 
Rom'u lus and Re'mus, 189, 224 
Rossbach (Ros'bak), 611 
Rouen (rb on'), 359 
Roundheads, 574 
Roussillon (ro se yoii'), 557 
Royal Academy. 563 
Royal Society, English, 563 
Rubens, 486 
Ru'bi con, 238 

Rudolf of Hapsburg, 398, 489 
Ru ma'ni a, 256 
Runnymede (run'imed), 370 
Rurik (ro'rik), 600 
Russia, beginnings of, 599 ff. 

St. Bartholomew, massacre of, 545 

St. Benedict, Rule of, 317 

St. Bernard, 408 f. 

St. Boniface, 322, 330 

St. Dominic, 421, 423 

St. Francis, 421 f. 

St. Louis, 368 

St. Peter's, rebuilding of, 456 

St. Petersburg, 603 

Saint-Simon (sah-se mofi'), 591 

St. Sophia, church of, 298 

Sal'a din takes Jerusalem, 409 

Sal'a mis. island of, 126; battle of, 126 ff. 

Sa ma'ri a, 72 



Sam'nite wars, 202 

Samnites, 202 

Sa'mos, 122, 183 

Sanskrit, 63 

Sar'da na pa'lus, 52 

Sar din'i a, 21 1 

Sar'gon I, 46 

Sargon II, 52 

Sas sa'ni ans, 279 

Saturn, 57 

Saul. 69 

Sa vo na ro'la, 494 

Saxons, in Britain, 293, 320 f. ; con- 
quered by Charlemagne, 332 ; coi 
version of, 333 

Saxony, 498 

Scholasticism, 475 f. ; Roger Bacon's 
attack on, 477 

School of the Palace, 338 

Science, medieval, 471 ff. ; beginnings 
of modern, 559 ff. 

Scipio (sip'i 6), 215 

Scone, Stone of, 375 

Scotch nation, language of, 374 ; 
differs from English, 376 

Scotland, 374 ff. ; subdued by Cron- 
well,576; unionof. with England, 620 

Seleucids (se lu'sids), 178; crushed 
by Rome, 235 

Seleucus (se lu'kus), 177 

Seljuk Turks, 401 

Semites (sem'Tts), 40 f., 46 f., 50; dis- 
persion of, 61 

Semitic nomad, 40 f. 

Senate (in Rome), 198 ff. 

Sen'e ca, 253 

Senlac, 359 

Sen nach'e rib, 52, 72, 102 

Sen tl'num, 202 

Separatists, 572 

Serfdom, medieval, 347 f., 432 f.-; dij 
appearance of, in England, 381 

Se'ti I, 36 

Seven Wise Men, 120 

Seven Years' War, 610 f.. 638 

Se ve'rus, Sep tim'i us, 278 

Sev'ille, 329 

Seymour, Jane, 528 

Shakespeare, 567 

Shi'nar, Plain of, 42 f., 46 

Ship money, 570 

Shires, 374 

Sicilian War (with Carthage), 210 f. 

Sigismund. Emperor. 605 

Silesia (si le'shi a). 609 f. 

Simony (sim'o ny), 391 



Index 



Xlll 



Sinai (si'nl), peninsula of, 19, 21 

Sind'bad, 30 

Siwa (se'wa), Oasis of, 176 

Slavery, in Egypt, 28; in Greece,. 

108 ; in Rome, 226 
Slavic peoples, 599 f. 
Slavs, conquered by Charlemagne, 

333 f- 
Social War (in Italy), 232 f. 

Society of Friends. See Quakers 

Soc'ra tes, 163 ff. 

Solomon, 70 

So'lon, 1 1 2 f. 

Song of Roland, 468 f. 

Sophists, 139 f., 163 

Soph'6 cles, 146 

Sorbonne, 542 

Spain, 293, 32S, 334, 490 ff. 

" Spanish fury," 540 

Spanish Inquisition, 420 f., 491 

Spanish ships captured by English 
mariners, 550 

Spanish Succession, War of the, 595 f. 

Sparta, 100, 114, i58ff. ; and Athens, 
129 ff.; and Thebes, 160 f. 

Spartan League, 114 

Speyer, diet of, 516 

Sphinx, 21, 29 

Spice trade in Middle Ages, 460 f. 

Spinning wheel, earliest, 9 

Stained glass, medieval, 447 f. 

Stamp Act, 641 

States of the Church. See Papal states 

Statute of Laborers, 380 

Statute of Provisors, 428 f. 

Stephen, 362 

Stoics, 186 

Stone Age, the, 2; Early, 2ff.; Middle, 
4 ff . ; Late, 6 ff. 

Stone architecture, 10, 20 ff. 

Stone masonry, earliest appearance 
of, 21 

Stra'bo, 248, 271 

Strassburg, 559 

Stra te'gus, 133 

Stuarts, 565 ff. 

Subvassal, 351 ; not under king's con- 
trol, 353 

Suez Canal, predecessor of, 31 

Sulla (sul'a), 233 f. 

Sully, 546 f. 

Su me'ri ans, 43 ff., 46 f. 

Sun-god, 20, 48 

Supremacy on the sea, English, 625 

Suzerain, medieval, 331 



Sweden, origin of kingdom of, 555 ; 
intervention of, in Thirty "\'ears' 
War, 556 

Swiss lake-dwellers. See Lake-dwellers 

Switzerland, origin of, 520 ; Protes- 
tant revolt in, 520 ff.; independence 
of, acknowledged, 559 

Syracusans, 154 f. 

Syracuse, 103, 154 f. 

Syria, 1 78, 219, 400 f. ; a Roman prov- 
ince, 235 ; Latin kingdoms in, 405 f. 

Tacitus, 332 

Taille (ta'y'), 385 

Tancred, 403 

Tartars in Russia, 601 

Taxes, earliest in Egypt, 22 f. ; in 
Rome, 219 f.; in Roman Empire, 
258,281 ; intimeof Charlemagne, 336 

Templars, 407 

Test Act, 583 

Tet'zel, 506 

Tha'les, 117 f. 

Thebes (in Egypt), 31, 33f. 

Thebes (in Greece), 100, 161, 171 ; 
and Sparta, 160 f. 

Textbooks, 297, 337 

The mis'to cles, 124 ff., 130 

The oc'ri tus, 185 

The od'o ric, 294 

Ther mop'y lae, 125 

Theses of Luther on indulgences, 506 

Thirty Y'ears' War, 553 ff. 

"Thirty-nine Articles," 529 

Thucydides (thii sid'i dez), 165 

Thiitmo'se III, 32 f. 

Ti be'ri us, 251 

Tiberius Gracchus, 230 

Ti con der o'ga, 637 

Ti'gris River, 42 

Tilly, 556 

Tiryns (ti'rinz), 83, 87 

Titian (tish'an), 485 

Ti'tus, 256 

Toleration Act, 584 

Tolls in Middle Ages, 440 f. 

Tombs, Egyptian royal, 20 ff. ; in Feu- 
dal Age of Egypt, 29 f. 

Tories, 629 

Toul, 559 

Tourneys in Middle Ages, 354 

Tours (tor), 328, 330 

"Tower of Babel," 45 

Towns, medieval, 431 ff. 

Trade laws, English, 640 

Trade regulated by towns, 442 



XIV 



History of Europe 



Tra'jan, 256 ff. 
Trent, Council of, 532 f. 
Tri bo'ni an, 297 
Tribunes, 198 
Triennial Bill, 573 
Triple Alliance, 593 
Trrremes, no 
Triumvirate, 236 
Troubadours, 469 f. 
Troy. 83 ff., 88, 172 
"Truce of God," 354 f. 
Tsar, origin of title, 601 
Tudor, House of, 384, 565 
Turks, conquests of, in Europe, 617 f. 
"Twelve Articles " of peasants, 514 f. 
Twelve Tables, Age of the, 297 
" Two Rivers," 42 f. 
Tyrants, Age of the, in Greece, 1 1 1 ff ., 
115 ff. 

Union of Calmar, 555 

United States receives aid from 

France, 643 f. 
Universities, medieval, 473 ff. 
Urban II, Pope, 401 
Usury, doctrine of, 439 
Utopia, More's, 523 
U'trecht, Union of, 541 ; Treaty of, 597 

Valens (va'lenz), 292 

Vandals, 293, 299 

Van Dyck, 486 

Van Eyck, the brothers, 486 

Vasa (va'sa), Gustavus, 555 

Vas'co da Ga'ma, 460 

Vassal, medieval, 350 

Vassy, massacre of, 543 f. 

Vatican, 456 

Vedas (va'daz), 63 

Venerable Bede, 322 

Venice, 449 ff. ; government of, 452 f. ; 

center of Renaissance art, 485 
Venus, 57, 196 
Verdun (ver dun'), 559 
Versailles (ver salz', Eng. pron.), 

palace of, 589 f. 
Vespasian (ves pa'zhian), 255 f. 
Ves'ta, 197 
Vesuvius, 261 
Vienna, besieged by Mohammedans, 

617 
Vi'kings, 343 (note) 
Vil. See Manor 
Villains, 347 
Vir'gil, 250 

Visigoths. See West Goths 
Voltaire', 610 



Wager of battle, 304 

Wal den'sians, 419, 542 

Waldo, Peter, 419 

Wales, 373 f. 

Wallenstein (wol'en stin), 554, 555 f. 

Walpole, Robert, 628, 629 f. 

Walter the Penniless, 403 

Wang'en, 10 

Wars of the Roses, 383 f. 

Weapons, earliest, 5 

Weaving, earliest, 9, 25 

Wedge writing (Sumerian), 43 f. 

Wessex, 357 

West Prankish kingdom, 339 ff., 358 

West Goths, 292 f., 328 

Western Empire, reestablished by 
Charlemagne, 334 f. 

Western Mediterranean world, 189 ff. 

Westminster, city of, 372 

Westphalia, Treaty of, 558 f., 606 

West Prussia, 612 

Whigs, 629 

William the Conqueror, 358 ff. 

William of Orange, 583 f., 593 

William the Silent, 539 f. 

Wit'e na ge mot, 371 

Wittenberg, 504, 506, 510 

Wolsey, Thomas, Cardinal, 523 

Wood, early use of, for tools, 6; for 
dwellr ^s, 7 f. ; for furniture, 8 

Worms (vorms). Concordat of, 395 ; 
diet at, 499 ; Edict of, 512 

Writing, earliest, 16 ff.; Egyptian, 
16 f. ; Sumerian, 43 f. ; Babylonian, 
43 f., 48 f . ; Hebrew, 71; Cretan, 
81 ; Hittite, 85 ; Greek, 92 ; Phoeni- 
cian, 92 ; Etruscan, 195 ; Roman, 
196 

Writing materials, invention of, 18; 
earliest in Europe, 93 

Wiirtemberg, 498 

Wyc'liffe, John, 429 

Xavier (zav'i er), Francis, 535 
Xenophon (zen'o fon), 55, 159 
Xerxes (zerk'sez), 124 

Yahveh (ya'we), 70, 72 

York, House of, 383 '^ 

Young Pretender, 628 <; 

Za'ma, 215 

Zeus (zus), 95 \ 

Zo'di ac, signs of, 57 ( 

Z6 ro as'ter, 63 f. f 

Zurich, 522 

Zwingli, 521 f. 



/ 



I 



ui 



C/l 



